Frederik Kalbermatten
Third-generation Saas-Fee local Fredi Kalbermatten’s career as a backcountry freestyle standout has spanned the past decade-and-a-half and taken him around the world in pursuit of powder. But in recent years, Fredi stayed home and rediscovered the unique glacial terrain where it all started for the Mayor of Saas-Fee snowboarding.
Words: Colin Wiseman
Frederik Kalbermatten has an orange tabby cat named Sheriff. Sheriff’s got free reign of the penthouse suite at the Dorfblick, the third-generation Kalbermatten abode, in which Fredi lives along with his wife, Nicole, and their baby boy, Johan. It’s a quiet spot right next to the Alpin Express gondola with panoramic views from the deck. Fredi’s grandfather built it in the ’60s, before Saas-Fee had a Best Western or a revolving alpine resaurant or five gondolas or the Alpin Express building, for that matter. Fredi’s older brother, Bjorn, and his wife, Debbie, live downstairs. Sheriff patrols all three floors and the surrounding walkways with confidence…