The Swiss national snowboard cross team is mourning the loss of one of its teammates after Olympian Sophie Hediger died in an avalanche on Monday.

She was 26.

Hediger was hit by an avalanche in the Swiss mountain resort of Arosa, the Swiss Ski Association announced on Tuesday.

“We are stunned and our thoughts are with Sophie’s family, to whom we express our deepest condolences,” association managing director Walter Reusser said in a statement. “For the Swiss Ski family, the tragic death of Sophie Hediger has cast a dark shadow over the Christmas holidays. We are incredibly sad. We will honor Sophie’s memory.”

Her death came nine days after she celebrated her 26th birthday on December 14th.

Details about the incident are limited and in a press release the Swiss Ski Federation said it would not release any further information about Hediger’s death at the request of her family.

The Graubünden cantonal police announced on Monday that a snowboarder had died in an avalanche while ski touring. However, the victim’s identity was never revealed, French news agency Le Parisien reported.

The snowboarder was only found two hours after emergency services were notified and police have launched an investigation into the incident.

According to Le Parisien, there had been heavy snowfall in Switzerland in recent days, increasing the risk of possible avalanches.

Hediger spent a lot of time riding in Arosa, the statement said, and the association said her life “came to a tragic, sudden and far too early end.”

The 26-year-old competed in the women’s snowboard cross and mixed team competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Hediger achieved her first two World Cup podiums in the 2023/24 season and her best result came last January when she finished second in St. Moritz.

“Wow! what just happened yesterday! Caught my first World Cup podium at home! I couldn’t be happier,” she wrote in an Instagram post after the event.