The 26-year-old snowboarder died after being buried in an avalanche on a closed black diamond slope in eastern Switzerland.

Hediger's death came less than four years after another Olympic snowboarder died in the Swiss Alps during an avalanche. In 2021, Julie Pomagalski, a former Olympic snowboarder from France, was 40 years old. Four people were freeriding together when the avalanche happened, the French federation said. Pomagalski's guide also died.

Switzerland’s national snowboard cross team is mourning the loss of one of their own after Olympian Sophie Hediger died in an avalanche on Monday. She was 26. Hediger was swept up in an avalanche in the mountain resort town of Arosa, Switzerland, the Swiss-Ski Federation announced on Tuesday.

Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger was killed Monday in an avalanche in her native Switzerland, just days after her 26th birthday. The country’s winter sports federation, Swiss-Ski, announced Tuesday that the young athlete died in the resort town of Arosa, on the heels of her Dec. 14 birthday.

Sophie Hediger, an Olympic snowboarder who competed for Switzerland at the 2022 Winter Olympics, has died in an avalanche. She was 26 years old. Hediger’s death was confirmed by the Swiss-Ski Federation on Tuesday.

Swiss Olympian Sophie Hediger, 26, tragically dies in Arosa avalanche after securing major snowboarding achievements.

Swiss Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger has died following an avalanche at a mountain resort. The country's skiing federation says the incident took place at the Arosa resort in Switzerland.