The horses have been all set. The gamers have been prepared. As have been the spectators, lots of whom had arrived on the idyllic winter wonderland of St. Moritz, Switzerland, with delicate fur coats and trendy moon boots. All the things was in place for the Snow Polo World Cup.
However the climate didn’t play alongside.
Due to excessive temperatures, the frozen lake of St. Moritz turned too slushy and slippery for the horses to gallop. In consequence, the occasion’s founder, Reto Gaudenzi, referred to as off all matches for the thirty ninth installment of the match, which was held from Friday by way of Sunday, and resorted to a few days of slower, extra stationary penalty shootouts as an alternative.
The occasion, which contains a variation of polo performed on packed snow atop the frozen lake floor, attracts hundreds of individuals to St. Moritz, a luxurious ski resort city, many from the very best echelons of the 1 %. It’s sponsored by corporations promoting personal jets, unique retreats and top-shelf champagne, and included a gala dinner that the organizers described as “the most well liked ticket on the town.”
Organizers tried to maintain an upbeat tone: “With the climate gods smiling, maybe delivering an excessive amount of sunshine in St. Moritz not too long ago, the ice depth is sweet and fully secure,” they stated in an announcement. (Whereas there was no danger of anyone falling by way of the ice, there was concern over horses falling on the ice.)
Temperatures had been effectively beneath freezing in current weeks, however the week earlier than the match they swung as excessive as 50 levels Fahrenheit in the course of the day. At evening, temperatures dropped again beneath freezing, however not lengthy sufficient to forestall puddles from forming on the frozen lake.
These temperatures have been unusually excessive, if not unheard-of, for St. Moritz, which is about 6,000 ft above sea stage.
“That is very gentle for the mountain areas,” stated Lionel Peyraud, a forecaster at Switzerland’s climate service, MeteoSwiss. “The air is basically fairly heat.”
The snow polo match nonetheless had about 25,000 guests over three days, organizers stated, with lots of them wandering across the lake consuming meals, listening to music and consuming champagne regardless of the truncated competitors.
“It’s the place to be,” Markus Berger, a spokesman for Switzerland Tourism, stated, including that a part of the rationale to attend was to “see and be seen.”
“It’s like a category reunion for a lot of of them,” Mr. Berger stated.
Late January is excessive season for winter tourism within the Swiss Alps. On the tiny Engadin Airport, which caters to personal jets, about 25 jets landed and took off every day over the weekend, stated Christian Gorfer, the airport’s chief monetary officer and a local of the area.
“It’s loopy in the mean time,” Mr. Gorfer stated. “As an airport we have now to take a look at the stability of motion and the setting.”
The tourism trade in Switzerland, which depends closely on the winter vacation season, is effectively conscious of local weather change. Communities at decrease altitudes, particularly, have been making an attempt in recent times to seek out totally different technique of earnings by attracting individuals for actions apart from snowboarding.
However St. Moritz is excessive sufficient that the consequences of local weather change shouldn’t be felt as intensely but, Mr. Berger stated.
“I don’t understand how the state of affairs in St. Moritz will develop, if that is an exception or if this may turn into a brand new regular,” he stated.
Whereas the Snow Polo World Cup often doesn’t obtain numerous mainstream media consideration in Switzerland, the occasion’s issues have been nonetheless significant for the remainder of the nation, Mr. Berger stated, as a result of it was all a part of “the picture of the Swiss winter.”
The subsequent occasion on the frozen lake of St. Moritz is scheduled for this weekend: the White Turf horse race. 1000’s of individuals attend the occasion, which is greater than a century outdated and is held over three Sundays in February yearly. However the White Turf might face the identical points that plagued the Snow Polo World Cup: Temperatures are anticipated to remain within the 40s Fahrenheit in the course of the day this week, in line with MeteoSwiss.
Regardless of the sunny skies and the comparatively heat temperatures, Dennis Schiergen, the pinnacle of racing for the White Turf, expressed optimism that the race could be held. “Now the temperatures are fairly steady and the lake is recovering,” he stated.
On Friday, the primary day of the snow polo match, Alessandra Fenyves, who was in St. Moritz each as a polo fan and as a contract journal journalist from Italy, stated the environment was totally different than in earlier years. It was her seventh time there.
“It’s disappointing,” she stated in a cellphone interview, including that she had seen individuals go away the stands, that are often packed. “It’s like if you change off the music at a celebration and the waiter comes and takes away the final chips on the desk.”
