Nicolas Huber's Switzerland: Corvatsch, Silvaplana and Life Out of a Bag
Nicolas Huber is a Zurich kid who turned weekend trips to the Alps into ten years of flying off jumps for Switzerland. Along the way came two Olympics, a world championship silver in 2017, a bronze in 2023 and, somewhere in between, a fan base in China built from a Beijing quarantine room.
In November 2025 he broke two vertebrae and missed the whole season, Milano Cortina Olympics included. By April he had recovered, and Swiss-Ski announced his new direction at 31: snowboardcross and freeride, with Olympic gold as the goal.
We asked him twenty questions about the Switzerland he knows: where he rides, where he swims, where he goes to recover, and what Instagram leaves out. His answers kept circling back to one valley.
A lake kid with a mountain habit
Every year from 1995 to 2014, Freestyle.ch built a huge snow-covered big air ramp in the middle of Zurich, right by the lake. Nicolas went as a kid and left knowing what he wanted to do with his life.
"I was fascinated by snowboarding and the style that came with it," he says. "There is a true sense of self-expression in the sport. No one can tell you what to do. There is no right or wrong. Everything is possible."
Wanting it was one thing. Getting from Zurich to the snow every weekend took his parents, a few friends and some trainrides. "The mountains make this place truly special, and the public transport system made it possible for me to travel to the mountains as a teenager."
The quarantine room that made him famous in China
Nicolas tested positive for Covid within two days of landing in Beijing for the 2022 Olympics. He was taken away in an ambulance and needed two negative tests before he could leave isolation.
"I was just bored in that room, so I started making random videos," he says. Solo dance parties, a hazmat suit, a tiger onesie, a giant Swiss flag. "Sharing what I was doing during quarantine helped me get through it. I was quite stressed because I was scared that I would miss the Olympic Games."
He tested negative in time for slopestyle and left Beijing with a following in China. "Some Chinese followers told me that they really liked how positive I stayed during quarantine," he says. "I think a lot of people were going through similar struggles, and they could relate to what I was doing."
Those followers are curious about Switzerland, which he says has a great reputation in China. Sometimes a little too great: "Some people think that everyone here is rich. We are definitely a wealthy country, but not everyone is a millionaire, haha."
Reading a mountain for things to jump off
Slopestyle, big air and snowboardcross all happen on courses someone else shaped. Freeride doesn't, and that's the part of his new career that changed how Nicolas looks at a mountain.
"Switching to racing didn't change that much for me," he says. "What changed a lot is the fact that I'm now doing more freeriding. I see mountains very differently now."
How differently? "My brain is naturally looking for things to jump off, takeoffs, and ways to play with the terrain. Sometimes it's a little crazy."
His plan for this winter is to ride as many Swiss resorts as he can. "I'll go wherever the snow is good." That's getting harder to find. "In general, I tell people to go to resorts that are higher up," he says. "At lower altitudes, it's becoming harder to find good snow. Unfortunately, smaller ski resorts in lower areas are struggling to survive."
Most of his Switzerland fits in one valley
Give Nicolas five days to show a friend from China around and he knows where he'd start. "For sure, I would take them to Corvatsch and show them around St. Moritz and Zurich," he says. Then the centre of the country: "a boat ride on Lake Lucerne" and a hike in the mountains.
Here his best Picks :
Corvatsch, for riding. "It has the most beautiful views, great freeriding and an amazing park. It's usually not too crowded, either. It's my favourite place to snowboard in Switzerland." The cable car climbs from Surlej to 3,303 metres, the highest mountain station in Graubünden, which fits his own advice about going high. On winter Fridays, the 4.2-kilometre run from the Murtèl mid-station down to Surlej stays floodlit until 1 or 2 am. It's considered the longest illuminated run in Switzerland.
Lake Silvaplana, for summer. It sits at the foot of Corvatsch. "In my opinion, the best place is Lake Silvaplana. It's one of the best places for kitesurfing and windsurfing in Europe, and probably one of the most beautiful spots in the mountains. I'd even drink the water straight from the lake. It's that clean." The Maloja wind usually picks up around lunchtime, so save the water for the afternoon. (We'd still bring a bottle.)
Samedan or Zurich, for recovery. After ten years of crashes, Nicolas resets at the spa, by a river or at a lake. "The thermal baths in Samedan or the Hürlimann Spa in Zurich are great places to recharge and reset." Mineralbad Samedan keeps him in the Engadin. The Zurich one is built into the vaults of the old Hürlimann brewery, with an infinity pool on the roof.
Life out of a bag
Around 330,000 people follow Nicolas, and that was never the plan. "There was never really a goal to build such a huge community," he says. "My biggest goal has always been to become a better snowboarder."
The content has a job now. "I'm a creator because it helps me become a better athlete," he says. "Without it, I would have to work another job and would have less time for training and recovery." He calls it a side hustle next to his athlete career, and it keeps the main job going.
What stays out of the feed is the logistics. "The long travels, bags that don't arrive, not really having a fixed home and constantly being on the run," he says. "There are days when you're exhausted, but the gym still has to be done. Living out of a bag. Hustling to find affordable accommodation. Planning trips and trying to find cheap flights. Being overweight at the airport because of all your gear. Sleeping on a bus."
He isn't complaining. "I think a lot of people sometimes don't understand that this lifestyle can also be hard. But I love it. That's why I do it." After a broken back and a lost Olympic season, he says he's "more hungry than ever."
What the algorithm leaves out
New spots usually come to Nicolas through connections or social media. The rest is legwork. "Sometimes it's really hard to find out where a certain spot is," he says. "You have to text people, ask around and do some research."
Instagram makes it all look easier, and sunnier. "I guess it always looks like it's perfect weather, haha. I think Instagram is very good at showing the famous places, especially the ones where all the influencers go."
Ask him what's underrated about Switzerland and he skips the scenery entirely. "I think it's the people. We have so many really nice people here. We are humble and down to earth, and we take care of each other and our nature. Together, we've made this place what it is, and I'm very grateful for that."
Our last question gave him one pin, anywhere in Switzerland.
"Corvatsch. Still my favourite place."
One last note
Thank you to Nicolas for the time and the honest answers. You can follow his snowboardcross season this winter on Instagram.
