A professional skier and his girlfriend fell to their deaths from more than 2,000 feet while climbing in the Italian Alps, Italian sports officials said.
The Italian winter sports federation FISI reported the deaths of two people, Jean Daniel Pession and Elisa Arlian, calling the incident an “accident” and a “terrible tragedy”.
On Saturday, Mr Pecion and Ms Arrian, both Italians, were climbing a ridge that separates the east and north faces of Monte Zerbion, a mountain in the Pennine Alps. Pennine Alps), both of whom are familiar. As is common on such climbs, they are tied together. They were alone and therefore had no idea how or why they fell.
After family members reported them missing, rescuers began searching. Their bodies were recovered by a helicopter equipped with equipment to detect mobile phone signals. Italian TV channel TG3 reported that the pair fell as they were about to reach the summit.
Ms. Arlian is an elementary school and ski teacher. Payson, 28, has competed on the World Cup Speed Ski Tour, in which athletes ski downhill in an attempt to reach as fast a speed as possible, often 125 miles per hour or more. He is ranked 15th in the world in 2021 and 33rd in 2022.
