Frederik Kalbermatten

The name’s a mouthful, which is why most in the snowboarding world know the Swiss rider as Fredi K. He’s the newest to the dad game of the fathers we reached out to, but just you wait: his kid’s growing up in the Saas Valley, a snowball’s toss from the base of the gondola at Saas-Fee, the “Free Republic of Holidays” in the Swiss Alps.

Tell us about your family.
My family is beautiful. My wife is Nicole. We have a 7-month old son named Johan.

How has fatherhood changed your life?
Now I come home from snowboarding and there are two smiling faces, two happy people waiting to see me instead of one. I never thought I could love someone like I love my son, and he doesn’t do anything to earn my love, he is just there, and there is nothing he could ever do to make me love him less.

How has snowboarding influenced the way you raise your kids?
Because of snowboarding I’ve been able to interact with a lot of different cultures, whereas some people from my village only leave the valley once a year. I think because of this I don’t see things as black and white as I otherwise might.

Will you teach your son to snowboard?
I have pretty strong feelings about it not being necessary for Johan to ski before snowboarding. My wife just asked me who was going to teach him to snowboard, and I said, “You?” Which is sort of a joke, I probably will teach him myself.

[videocaption]Natural ability at its highest level of performance. Fredi is so fun to watch.[/videocaption]

What kinds of choices have you had to make between being a father & having a career in snowboarding?
Not too many so far, except for being close to home when the birth was near. We live deep in the Alps, so I can easily snowboard and be at home at the same time.

Do you have some words of wisdom that you can pass on to families looking to raise their kids in the mountains?
Do it! Isn’t it fun to play in the snow? Funnest place for a kid to grow up. I did it.

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Page 2: Seth Huot
Page 4: Sammy Luebke
Page 5: Todd Richards