It was a shock - for his family, his colleagues at the ski school in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and also for many people from Krün.
Carlo Tronci, a young father, died at the age of 39.
A stroke of fate that no one could have expected from the passionate athlete.
Krün/Garmisch-Partenkirchen
– What if... Many of the questions that Josefine Tronci is currently asking begin with these three words.
One thing in particular occupies the woman from Krün: "What if I had been there?" At home in the house that her husband had built for her and her family.
On the night that was to turn her life completely upside down, she wasn't there, but on a skiing holiday with her father and daughter, who was just over one and a half years old.
That the heart of Carlo Tronci, the man with whom she has been happy since 2014 and married since 2019, stops beating - nobody expected that.
Young father dies of a heart attack
The 39-year-old, who has done a lot of sport and lived a healthy life, simply lay lifeless in his house.
The police, who first investigate such a case, later learn that he died of natural causes.
"It was a severe heart attack," confirms Josefine Tronci.
"The doctor said it went very quickly." The doctor was also amazed at how Carlo Tronci, whose heart had been severely damaged, was still able to do so much sport.
His assessment: "He must have been tough."
The team from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen ski school, which Carlo Tronci has managed since 2014, sounded the alarm in the morning.
"He was very reliable, so we wondered why he wasn't there," remembers Michael Zahler, one of the ski school's partners.
After a few phone calls, they had the sad certainty.
"A big shock." Only slowly can everyone grasp what happened.
And that the Krüner "no longer suddenly comes around the corner".
During a minute's silence at Kreuzwankl, the ski instructors - representatives of all local schools were there - employees of the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn and other companions said goodbye to Carlo Tronci.
The chairlift on the Hausberg in Garmisch-Partenkirchen stood still before the deceased made a last symbolic lap.
"In a chair was a photo of him with two wreaths,"
tells Payer.
And for a very short time the sun peeked out on the dull day.
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Moving farewell: At Kreuzwankl in the Hausberg ski area, colleagues, friends and companions gather for a small memorial service for Carlo Tronci.
The chairlift therefore stands still for a moment, then the deceased 39-year-old Krüner symbolically makes one last lap: a picture of him and flowers are lying in one of the empty chairs.
© Bayerische Zugspitzbahn
By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular GAP newsletter.
Moving farewell at the funeral service at the Kurhaus
A sign, Josefine Tronci is convinced of that.
She experienced a similar moment at the funeral service at the Kurhaus Krün.
Everyone was able to say goodbye to their husbands there.
"Not so traditional," says his wife.
Carlo Tronci will find his final resting place tomorrow, Wednesday, in the Silent Forest in the Elmauer Valley.
"A wonderful opportunity," says the 31-year-old.
Also for the children.
Especially with her daughter Mila she can take a walk to the tree that she has secured for the next 50 years.
Also for Stella, Tronci's adult daughter from a previous relationship, it is certainly easier to go there and not to a cemetery.
His family was extremely important to the deceased.
"He always wanted everything to be right for Mila and me, for us to have a good time," says Josefine Tronci.
The path that Carlo Tronci took was mapped out from his childhood.
At the age of two he stood on skis for the first time and later accompanied his grandfather, Peter Porath, on his ski courses.
"He was his idol," says Josefine Tronci.
Like his grandfather, her husband raced, later also in the youth field with Maria Riesch and Felix Neureuther, was a member of the Krün ski club, but decided against racing.
After training as an electrician – “as a carpenter like his grandfather, he didn’t get an apprenticeship” – he preferred to become a ski instructor as well.
That was his passion.
Carlo Tronci also passed on his knowledge and experience as a trainer at the German Ski Instructors Association.
"He really enjoyed that and his work in the ski school," emphasizes his wife.
“Carlo was a kind-hearted person”
It remains to be seen how the ski school will continue.
“We are currently investigating the possibilities,” says Zahler.
The footsteps are big.
"Carlo was a kind-hearted person, he had an open ear for everyone." You could always rely on him.
This was also shown when Zahler, who was out and about with cross-country skis, once met him on the local mountain.
After a nightcap at the Bayernhaus, good advice on how to master the descent was expensive.
“Carlo just gave me a piggyback ride.
He really was a fantastically good skier.”
You can find more current news from the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen at Merkur.de/Garmisch-Partenkirchen.