A professional skier and his girlfriend died when they fell more than 2,000 feet while climbing a mountain in the Italian Alps, the country's sports officials said.
The death of the two, Jean Daniel Pession and Elisa Arlian, was denounced by FISI, the Italian winter sports federation, which defined the episode as an “accident” and a “terrible tragedy”.
Mr Pession and Ms Arlian, both Italian, on Saturday were climbing a ridge dividing the east and north faces of Monte Zerbion, a mountain in the Pennine Alps that they both knew well. As often happens on climbs of this type, they were tied together. They were alone, so it's not known exactly how or why they fell.
When his family reported his disappearance, rescuers started searching. A helicopter equipped with equipment capable of detecting cell phone signals located their bodies. Italian television channel TG3 reported that the pair were almost at the summit when they fell.
Mrs. Arlian was a primary school and ski instructor. Mr. Pession, 28, had competed on the World Cup speed skiing circuit, in which athletes ski downhill trying to reach the highest speed possible, often 125 miles per hour or more. He placed 15th in the world rankings in 2021 and 33rd in 2022.