Olympic Athlete Sophie Hediger Dies in Devastating Avalanche at 26

Sophie Hediger, a rising snowboarding talent, was caught in an avalanche on December 23 and died. Her death has been confirmed, and the snowboarding community is in shock. Her age was 26.

“We are stunned, and our thoughts are with Sophie’s family, to whom we express our deepest condolences,” said Walter Reusser, CEO of Sport at Swiss-Ski, the winter sports guild for Switzerland, in a statement provided to NBC News.

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

This year marked a turning point for Horgen in her sport.

She achieved her first two World Cup podiums in the 2023/24 season. She placed second in a World Cup rehearsal in St. Moritz in the southeastern Swiss Alps. She will make her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Swiss-Ski reported that Hediger had set her sights on winning a medal at the World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland, in March 2025.

Swiss-Ski reported that the snowboarder grew up in the Swiss community of Horgen, in the Zurich region. So she took up freeriding – snowboarding on ungroomed terrain – in the resort of Arosa, about 132 kilometres from Horgen.

Swiss-Ski said it would not release any further details about Hediger’s death out of respect for her family and partner and asked that their privacy be respected.

Topics #Devastating Avalanche #Olympic Athlete #rising snowboarding talent