MOSCOW, January 8 (R-Sport) - An extreme sports enthusiast died and another was seriously injured when an inflatable ball they were in rolled down a snowy mountain and plunged off a cliff in southern Russia, authorities said Tuesday.

The accident happened on January 3 at the mountain sports resort of Dombai in Russia's North Caucasus mountain range, the country's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

A man identified as 27-year-old D. Burakov died after breaking his neck in the fall, while his acquaintance Vladimir Shcherbov, 33, was hospitalized with a concussion and multiple lacerations to the head and body.

The so-called orb carrying the two men was supposed to come to a gentle halt at the bottom of a slope but veered off course, teetering on the edge of a ravine before plunging down it.

The orb eventually stopped about 1 kilometer away on a frozen lake, investigators said.

An investigation has been opened into criminal negligence causing death on the part of the extreme sports organizers.

The maximum penalty is ten years in prison.

The recreational sport, known as zorbing, orginated in New Zealand.