Snowboard Champion Julie Pomagalski Died in Avalanche

Two-time Olympian Julie Pomagalski of France passed away Tuesday after being caught in an avalanche in Switzerland. Pomagalski was 40 years old.

At the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, she finished sixth in the parallel giant slalom. She duplicated that feat four years later at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy. In addition to her Olympic appearances, the Frenchwoman was the 1999 snowboard cross world champion and won silver at the 2003 Worlds in parallel giant slalom.

According to le journal, Pomagalski and guide Bruno Cutelli were swept away in the avalanche and then found dead by emergency services in the Swiss Alps. Pomagalski is the granddaughter of Jean Pomagalski, who invented the first ski lift in 1934 and founded the brand Poma in 1947.