Audi CEO dies after falling from 10,000-foot mountain while climbing

The Audi representative and keen mountaineer died after falling while recently climbing Cima Payer, a mountain in Italy.

The Italian Winter Sports Federation reported on its website that Fabrizio Longo died at the age of 62 after falling while hiking a via ferrata, or a protected climbing route, towards the summit of the mountain on Saturday, August 31.

Italian Winter Sports Federation president Flavio Roda said in a statement that Longo’s death was “a terrible loss for the federation, which has worked so fruitfully with Longo for years,” adding: “We share in this moment of great pain with his family and the staff of Audi Italia.”

The federation noted that Longo — described as a “very experienced and cautious mountaineer” — climbed the mountain alone, whose peak is more than 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) and is located between the Italian provinces of Brescia and Trento.

Another climber “witnessed the incident” and reported it, prompting rescuers from the Pinzolo Alpine Rescue station to go to the site by helicopter, according to a statement from the federation. Upon arrival, they identified Longo’s body “hovering” 200 meters (656 feet) below the summit, and a medical team pronounced him dead.

Local Italian news site Messenger reported that Longo’s body was later picked up by a helicopter from the Guardia di Finanza, the local law enforcement agency, and taken to Carisolo in Italy.

A statement from the Italian Winter Sports Federation said Longo, who was born in Rimini, Italy, in 1962, had been a director of Audi Italia since 2013.

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“He had a great passion for the mountains and under his leadership Audi Italia linked its image with that of the Italian Winter Sports Federation,” the organisation said.

Longo also held positions at Fiat and Lancia before joining Audi in 2012. His Facebook profile reflected his love of mountain climbing, and his last post, published two weeks before the incident, showed the Andertan Alps, an area in Italy’s Sesto Dolomites.