World Cup skier Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend fatally fell from a cliff in Italy, authorities in the country confirmed.
Pession, 28, is a member of the Italian national speed skiing team, and his partner Elissa Arlian, died “in a tragic mountain accident,” a press release from the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) said.
“President Flavio Roda and the entire federation express their condolences to Pession’s family for this tragic misfortune,” the FISI statement read.
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The accident occurred atop the resort village Champoluc in Italy’s Aosta Valley region.
When they didn’t return from the peak, their family called emergency services, Italian media outlet Rai reported.
“Two 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,” Aosta Valley’s regional council president, Alberto Bertin, wrote in a statement.
Rescue crews conducted a search and were tipped off to their whereabouts through their mobile phone signals. They eventually found them still tied together. It is common for mountain scalers to tie themselves together.
Pession placed 15th in the final World Cup ranking for 2021, the press release said, and while at the 2022 World Championships, he came in 22nd in Vars.