BERN, Switzerland — World-renowned mountain runner and cyclist Andrea Huser, 46, died while trying to cross a stream during training.
Huser suffered a 460-foot (roughly 120-meter) fall down a steep slope in the Swiss Alps.
The incident happened in the ski resort village of Saas-Fee, located in Saastal, in the canton of Valais. Andrea’s lifeless body was found by workers from the Saastal rescue station in late November, after she was reported missing to the Bern, Switzerland, police the previous night.
The police conducted a helicopter search. The runner apparently slipped on a high slope while trying to cross an icy mountain stream.
Huser’s sponsoring association, Prosport Sigriswil, paid tribute to the popular athlete after the tragic accident.
“It’s just amazing what she’s done. She was very popular and an incredibly great woman. Despite her success, she was very reserved and never sought the limelight,” a spokesperson for the group said.
Although she had ended her professional career this summer, Huser was still regularly spotted on the mountain trails.
Huser lived by a philosophy she shared on multiple occasions: “Flat roads are forbidden, I need steep mountains and cool descents.”
In 2002, Huser became European mountain bike champion, and in 2004, she took fourth place at the world championships.
In 2012, she became involved in ultra mountain running and went on to claim some of the sport’s highest awards, including the bronze medal in the European Winter Triathlon Championship. Ultraruns are any events longer than 26 miles, a marathon distance.
She also took first place at the Ultra Trail World Tour in 2018, won the 101-kilometer Eiger Ultra Trail twice and notched the silver medal at the 170-kilometer Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc twice.
(Edited by Fern Siegel and Matthew B. Hall)
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