Professional skier Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend Elisa Arlian were tragically found dead in a ‘final embrace.’
One person penned: “How sad. Dreadful way to end their lives, a real tragedy… Many condolences to their heartbroken families and friends!”
Another added: “That’s awful… praying for their families!”
“May you both rest in eternal peace. This is so sad and tragic! Condolences to their family & loved ones,” wrote a third.
A fourth said: “What a horrible way to pass away. So sorry for everyone involved.”
Pession was a member of Italy’s World Cup speed skiing team and achieved his best results in 2021, finishing 15th in the final World Cup standings, while at the 2022 World Championships, he placed 22nd.
The skier’s girlfriend was a cross-country ski instructor and elementary school teacher at the Saint-Marcel school, as reported by the Mirror.
Pession and Arlian were climbing Mount Zerbion, a mountain of the Pennine Alps in Aosta Valley, Italy when the tragedy occurred.
When they did not return home, their families raised the alarm and three helicopters including mountain rescue, police, and firefighter teams were launched.
The couple’s bodies were discovered buried in the snow by search and rescue teams.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation has confirmed Pession and Arlian died in a mountain accident, falling nearly 2,300 feet.
It is unknown what exactly caused the accident.
Italian outlet RAI reports: “It took hours and hours of flying over to locate them: there were no traces on the rock to suggest where they had fallen.
“Perhaps, while they continued along the ridge that divides the north and east faces, they slipped on the snow or the ground gave way.”
The search team found the couple’s body when a device eventually picked up a signal from one of their cell phones.
“They were almost at the summit, just a step away, when suddenly they were betrayed by the mountain they loved so much. When they were found, they were still tied together, like in a final embrace,” the RAI reports.
This news was posted in a video shared to X, formerly Twitter, and translated by People.
In a statement, the Italian Winter Sports Federation highlighted Pession’s achievements.
It read (per NBC): “A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports and speed skiing in particular.
“President Flavio Roda and the entire Federation express their condolences to the Pession family for this tragic misfortune.”
Aosta Valley’s Regional Council President, Alberto Bertin, also expressed his condolences, stating: “Two young lives broken by an accident in the mountains, that mountain which was their passion.
“In this moment of profound sadness, we express our closeness to the families, friends, and the entire sporting community, holding us close to them with affection and compassion.”
