World Cup skier Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, fatally fell about 2,300 feet from Mount Zerbion in Italy, according to local reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pession, a 28-year-old member of the Italian national speed skiing<\/a> team, and Arlian, a 26-year-old ski instructor and school teacher, died \u201cin a tragic mountain accident,\u201d a news release<\/a> from the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The accident occurred atop the resort village Champoluc in Italy\u2019s Aosta Valley region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When they didn\u2019t return from the peak, their family called emergency services, which immediately dispatched helicopters, Italian\u2002media outlet\u2002Rai reported.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Three crews conducted the search, which included efforts from alpine rescue, police and firefighters, per Rai. Their cellphone signals were pinpointed. Rescuers found them tied together, which is common for mountain scalers to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pession placed 15th in the final World Cup ranking for 2021, the news release said, and while at the 2022 World Championships, he came in 22nd in Vars. He was an aspiring mountain guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPresident Flavio Roda and the entire Federation express their condolences to Pession\u2019s family for this tragic misfortune,\u201d the FISI statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwo young lives destroyed by an accident on a mountain, that mountain which was their passion. In this moment of profound sadness, we express our closeness to the families, their friends and the whole sporting community, holding them tightly with affection and compassion,\u201d Aosta Valley\u2019s regional council president, Alberto Bertin, wrote in a statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n