Olympic Snowboarder Sophie Hediger Dies in Avalanche at Age 26 – E! Online

The sports world is mourning the loss of Sophie Hediger.

The Swiss snowboarder died in an avalanche in Arosa, Switzerland on Dec. 23, the winter sports federation Swiss-Ski confirmed. She was 26 years old.

“We are stunned,” the organization’s CEO Walter Reusser said in a statement shared to its website Dec. 24 and translated from German to English, “and our thoughts are with Sophie’s family, to whom we express our deepest condolences.”

While Hediger grew up in the district town of Horgen, the website noted she “spent a lot of time in Arosa.” It was there, the site added, “her life while freeriding, a beloved hobby, came to a tragic, sudden, far too early end.” In accordance with the wishes of Hediger’s partner and family, Swiss-Ski continued, it will not be releasing any other information about her passing and is asking for the privacy of her loved ones to be respected.   

“For the Swiss Ski family, the tragic death of Sophie Hediger has cast a dark shadow over the Christmas holidays,” Reusser stated. “We are immeasurably sad. We will keep an honorable memory of Sophie.”