Sophie Hediger, who competed for Switzerland in the 2022 Winter Olympics, died on Monday in an avalanche while snowboarding in the Swiss Alps, the country’s ski federation said.
She was 26.
Hediger was snowboarding with another person around 1:15 p.m. on Monday down a closed black diamond slope in Arosa — which sits in eastern Switzerland about an hour south of Liechtenstein. Hediger was caught in an avalanche, and the other person notified rescue services to start searching for her. They eventually located Hediger buried in snow about two hours later, but they were unable to resuscitate her, police said via the New York Times. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hediger grew up in Horgen, which sits just south of Zürich. The organization said she spent a lot of time in Arosa and loved freeriding in the region.
“We are stunned and our thoughts are with Sophie’s family, to whom we express our deepest condolences,” Swiss Ski CEO Walter Reusser said in a statement. “For the Swiss Ski family, the tragic death of Sophie Hediger has cast a dark shadow over the Christmas holidays. We are immeasurably sad. We will keep an honorable memory of Sophie.”
Hediger competed for Switzerland at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, where she finished in seventh alongside Kalle Koblet in the mixed team snowboard cross. Hediger also finished 19th in the women’s race. She has been a regular competitor in snowboard cross across the world, and she reached the podium for the first time in a World Cup race earlier this year in Switzerland. She made the podium again in February when she finished third at a World Cup race in Georgia. She even competed earlier this month at a World Cup race in Cervinia, Italy, where she finished in ninth.
