Professional Skier and Girlfriend Die in Tragic Fall from Mount Zerbion

Jean Daniel Pession (r.) and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, died.

Professional skier Jean Daniel Pession, 28, and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, tragically died on June 1 in a hiking accident on Mount Zerbion, Italy. According to TMZ Sports and RAINews, the couple fell over 2,000 feet (approximately 700 meters) from the mountain.

Jean Daniel Pession (r.) was a professional skier.

Elisa Arlian, a ski instructor at Sci Club St. Barthélemy and a primary school teacher, was with Pession at the time of the accident. The Italian Winter Sports Federation expressed their sorrow in a statement: “A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports and speed skiing in particular. 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.”

Jean Daniel Pession (r.) competed in the World Cup.

Pession, a native of the Aosta Valley, finished 15th in the World Cup rankings three years ago and placed 22nd at the World Championships in 2022. “President Flavio Roda and the entire Federation express their condolences to Pession's family for this tragic misfortune,” the statement continued.

Jean Daniel Pession (r.) and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, were both skiers.

While the cause of the fall remains unclear, the couple, familiar with the peak, had worried family members when they did not return from their hike. Emergency calls prompted a search involving three helicopters. Signals from their cell phones eventually helped locate the couple.

RAINews reported, “They were almost at the summit, just a step away, when suddenly they were betrayed by the mountain they loved so much. When they were found, they were still tied together, like in a final embrace.”