Olympian Sophie Hediger, a member of Switzerland's national snowboard cross team, has died. She was 26 years old.
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The Swiss-Ski federation announced the news on Tuesday with a statement. The federation said that Hediger was caught in an avalanche in Arosa, an Alpine resort village in the Schanfigg Valley.
Swiss-Ski said that it would not provide any more details about the situation after consulting Hediger's family and partner. The statement asked for privacy for the family.
"We are stunned and our thoughts are with Sophie's family, to whom we express our deepest condolences," federation 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."
According to Snow Brains, the incident occurred after 1:15 p.m. local time. Members of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), avalanche search specialists with trained dogs, and personnel from Swiss Air-Rescue Rega spent nearly two hours searching before locating Hediger underneath the snow at approximately 3:30 p.m. local time.
Swiss-Ski said that Hediger grew up in Horgen, a municipality along the south bank of the Lake of Zurich. The federation said that she spent a lot of time at Arosa.
According to the federation, Hediger secured two World Cup podium places during the 2023-24 season. She finished second at St. Moritz on Jan. 26, 2024. She then finished third at Gudauri Ski Resort in the country of Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024.
She most recently competed in the World Cup event at Cervino Ski Paradise on Dec. 14. She finished ninth.
Hediger also represented Switzerland during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. She was part of the mixed team snowboard cross events with Kalle Koblet. They reached the Small Final with teams from Germany, Great Britain, and Russia.
