World Cup skier, girlfriend fall 700m to their deaths

Heartbreaking details have emerged after a professional skier and his partner were found tied together following a 700m fall.

A professional skier and his girlfriend have died in an apparent hiking accident when they reportedly fell over 700m from Mount Zerbion in Italy.

As first reported by TMZ and RAINews, skier Jean Daniel Pession and girlfriend Elisa Arlian, a ski instructor, were together when the tragedy occurred.

Pession, 28, placed 22nd at the 2022 ski world championships in the speed skating competition, The New York Post reports.

Arlian’s Instagram profile shows many photos of the happy couple together — and also shows that she was a primary school teacher.

The Italian Winter Sports Federation confirmed the news in a statement on its website.

The happy couple. Photo: Instagram, @jeandanielpession.

The couple were adrenaline junkies. Photo: Instagram, @jeandanielpession.

“A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports and speed skiing in particular,” the organisation wrote in a statement on its website, as translated into English.

“Jean Daniel Pession, a twenty-eight-year-old member of the World Cup team, lost his life in a tragic mountain accident that occurred above Champoluc (Ao). His girlfriend also died together with Pession.”

The Italian Winter Sports Federation added that Pession, who was an Aosta Valley native, finished 15th in the World Cup rankings three years ago.

“President Flavio Roda and the entire Federation express their condolences to Pession family for this tragic misfortune,” the statement continued.

Elisa Arlian with Jean Daniel Pession. Photo: Instagram, @elisa.arlian.

Elisa Arlian was a ski instructor. Photo: Instagram, @elisa.arlian.

It’s unclear what caused the couple to fall, but they reportedly knew the peak that they were climbing and worried family members once they didn’t return — prompting emergency calls and three helicopters to search for Pession and Arlian — from the hike, RAINews reported.

Those searching for Pession and Arlian eventually were able to locate signals from their cell phones, according to the report, which eventually helped find them.

“They were almost at the summit, just a step away, when suddenly they were betrayed by the mountain they loved so much,” RAINews reported, according to People.

“When they were found, they were still tied together, like in a final embrace.”

— This story originally appeared in The New York Post and has been republished with permission