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.

Hediger competed at the Beijing Games in the women's snowboard cross and the mixed team version of the same event.

Sophie Hediger, a member of Switzerland's snowboard cross team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has died following an avalanche at a mountain resort, the country's skiing federation said on Tuesday.