World Cup skier Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend Elisa Arlian died after falling at a mountain in Italy, according to winter sports officials and Italian media.
Pession, 28, and Arlian, 27, died on after they fell from Monte Zerbion, reported RAI, Italy’s national broadcasting company. The mountain is located in the northwest part of Italy, and around 108 miles east of Geneva.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation confirmed the skiers’ deaths in a statement on Saturday, calling the incident a tragedy for the winter sports and speed skiing worlds.
Pession was a member of the federation.
The couple fell around 2,300 feet and were found tied together hours later, which is commonly done by mountain scalers, reported RAI and Sky News.
Rescuers used the skiers’ cell phone signal to find them after there was no sign of them on the mountain.
Both Pession and Arlian are ski instructors.
Pession placed 15th in the final 2021 World Cup ranking, the Italian Winter Sports Federation announced, before competing at the 2022 World Championships.
Comments flooded Pession’s Instagram as people remembered his legacy.
“Bye Jean Daniel,” commented one user in Italian on Pession’s last Instagram post. “Rest in peace. I will remember you forever.”
“Such sad news!” said another who said she remembered watching his races with her son. “You were a good, fair and strict athlete.”
