December 27, 2000

Name: Nicolas Mueller

Age: Seventeen

Home: Switzerland

Sponors: Burton, Oakley, Laax

Thank you: My family and friends.

Nicolas is one of the kids everyone in the European snowboard world is talking about. When he was fifteen he won his first regional cup. Now at seventeen he’s ruling the ISF World Cup. When you hear his name the word style is not far behind. When you see him for the first time you think he’s a mixture of a hippie and a gangsta.

Describe yourself?

I’m really lazy in the morning. I skate goofy-foot, but I snowboard regular.

Are you still in school, and does it affect your snowboarding?

It’s kind of hard to travel so much and still learn all the stuff the other students learn, but it’s working. When I’m done with school and things are running smooth, then I’ll do whatever I have to do.

What do your parents think about your snowboarding career?

They support me wherever they can! Thanks.

At the Junior World Championships you were the man, but you bailed pretty hard. What happened?

I was leading after the qualifications, but I tried to go bigger, and I bailed really hard. I would say it was a classic K.O. I swallowed my tongue and I couldn’t breath. I was lucky because one of the spectators was a doctor who helped me with his car keys. He pulled my tongue back into place with a key. It saved my life. The first thing I heard when I came to was, "Does anyone have a knife?" They almost made a hole in my neck.