Olympic snowboarder, 26, dies after horror avalanche in Switzerland
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Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger has died in an avalanche at the age of 26. Hediger, a member of the Swiss national snowboard cross team, represented her country at the 2022 Winter Olympics and had her sights set on a spot at the 2026 Games in Italy. She claimed two World Cup podium finishes during the 2023-24 season.
But the Swiss-Ski federation confirmed on Tuesday that she was caught up in the incident at the mountain resort of Arosa - two hours from Zurich - on Monday. It's understood she and a friend had ventured onto the expert-level Black Diamond run. Emergency teams, including rescuers from the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), avalanche search specialists with trained dogs, and personnel from Rega (the Swiss Air Rescue service), were joined by members of the Alpine Police in a search and rescue operation. After nearly two hours they found Ms. Hediger's body beneath the snow.
Walter Reusser, the Sport chief executive at Swiss-Ski said: "We are speechless, and our thoughts are with Sophie's family, to whom we express our deepest condolences. "For the Swiss-Ski family, the tragic death of Sophie has cast a dark shadow over the Christmas period. We are immensely saddened.".
The federation said her life “came to a tragic, sudden and far too early end.”. Her death comes just nine days after she celebrated her 26th birthday on December 14. There had been heavy snowfall in Switzerland over the last several days which raised the risk of potential avalanches, according to Le Parisien.
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