Swiss Olympic vintage

Have you not been hit by the Olympic spirit yet? Or are you glued to the TV since Friday night? Either way, did you know that Switzerland hosted the Winter Olympics on two occasions? In 1928 and 1948, both times the games were held in St.Moritz. At the time there were 464 and 669 participants respectively.

This is what it looked like:

The U.S. women's ski team shows off their stylish uniforms

at the '48 Games in snowy St. Moritz.

Judges hold up scorecards at the 1948 Winter Olympics,

the first Winter Olympics to be held in the wake of World War II.



The 1928 Winter Olympics featured two demonstration sports:
skijoring and military patrol

Alpine skiing was not an event yet!

In 1948 two rival American Olympic Hockey teams showed up, confused organizers allowed one to play and the other to march in the opening ceremonies.

Ice is too thin..

The ice covering Lake St. Moritz is too thin. Now for most people this is not big news, however, for the rich and famous VIPs and for the Polo lovers of this world, it's like not celebrating Christmas.

The St. Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow is the world’s most prestigious winter polo tournament. Four high-goal teams battle for the coveted Trophy on the frozen surface of Lake St. Moritz. The unusual conditions on snow, the unaccustomed location at 1,800 metres above sea level and the cosmopolitan character of St. Moritz make the tournament truly unique – as attested by approximately 15,000 spectators from every corner of the world who make the pilgrimage to Lake St. Moritz at the end of January each year.

The St. Moritz Lake Commission, however, has decided not to grant clearance for erection of the infrastructure on the surface of the lake due to a too thinner ice layer. The risk of the ice collapsing is too great. For the first time in the tournament’s 28-year history, the St. Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow has had to be cancelled due to the weather conditions.

After various load-bearing-capacity tests on the iced-over surface of Lake St. Moritz, the safety experts reached the conclusion yesterday that, for safety reasons, they cannot grant clearance for erection of the necessary tournament infrastructure on the surface of the lake. The regulations on the use of the surface ice are strict: the ice across the whole lake must be no thinner than 20 centimetres. Each square metre must be able to bear up to 350 kilograms. If these requirements are not met, no structures can be erected on the lake. “We were hoping for a last-minute change in the weather so that a few nights at sub-zero temperatures could freeze the lake sufficiently. Unfortunately Mother Nature has let us down,” comments Bernhard Pöllinger, Head of Sports & Infrastructure at St. Moritz Polo Corporation.

Well, you can still enjoy the Gourmet Festival that begins on Monday, January 30th, 2012 or how about just luxuriating in the beauty of St.Moritz's nature? No one can cancel that!!!

St.Moritz Gourmet Festival 2012

"For a gourmet wine is not a drink but a condiment, provided that your host has chosen correctly."
Edouard De Pomaine, French author

Once again, from 30th January to 3rd February 2012, the Upper Engadine will become a Mecca for the international gourmet scene. Often copied but never equalled, for one week one culinary top event will follow another at the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival, and each of them will be a highlight on its own. This time you can look forward to personally meeting ten star-crowned European guest master chefs, who will delight you with their sensational cooking artistry! The special and unique attraction of our Gourmet Festival is the inspiring and considerate teamwork of the guest master chefs with the equally highly awarded excellent master chefs of the high-class festival partner hotels! But that is not all. In addition, delightful experiences for all the senses will be offered in four fascinating festival locations.

The Gourmet Festival programme summary contains full details and booking options! Enjoy making your choice!

Admittedly, we are talking total luxury BUT you can always cruise up to St.Moritz for the day, enjoy the snow and a hot chocolate overlooking the lake. If you do, send me a postcard, please! ;)

Impressive Live image ticker of today's 43rd Engadiner Skimarathon

The Engadin cross-country ski marathon was the first marathon of this kind. It was organized in 1969 with an amazing 945 of skiers who lined up at the start line. Since then its success has grown to attracting participants from more than 35 nations every year.

It’s a 42km long marathon which leads beside a medieval castle, over ice-bound lakes, and through an entire forest. The whole landscape is absolutely astonishing. 12,000 competitors gather at the start, get whipped into a frenzy by music from Chariots of Fire, and take off Le-Mans-style across a couple of snow-covered lakes through the upper Engadine valley. It is incredibly well organized evidenced by the fact that competitors’ warm clothes get transported to the finish line. Also check out the photos of the beginning of the race: how to get 12'000 skiers in line?!?

The Engadin Ski Marathon is a real challenge, but also a chance to admire the wonders of nature in the Swiss mountains. See for yourself by clicking here to enter the Ski Marathons 2011 live image ticker.

An awsome skiing vacation in St.Moritz

My sweet, sweet Switzerland

Skiing on the Corviglia

Looking down the Engadine valley

View from the Corvatsch

Last descent of the season! 

Val Fex

The valley is one of the highest in Switzerland to be inhabited all year round.

Inhabitants in 2000: 101 

Hänsel & Gretel in the woods?

Spring thawing

Crasta Church in Val Fex

Typical Engadine house

Past times

"Sgraffito" is a typical Engadine form of art

produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colors to a moistened surface

St.Moritz Polo World Cup on snow

Make he most of your weekend and pop across to the canton Graubünden to the world-renowned resort St.Moritz and mingle with the rich and famous. In just 2 1/2 hours you can be on top of the world soaking in those sunrays. Admittedly, it is cold up there and very expensive but it's a once in a life-time experience.

The teams were warming up on the frozen lake in the Engadine Valley on Wednesday, and St. Moritz looks set to be another great spectacle for the hordes of spectators expected to turn out.

Four international teams take to the lake tomorrow for the start of the 27th St.Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow.

The world-famous polo tournament on the frozen Lake St. Moritz is now being staged as a Nations Cup. Unlike previous years, when teams competed for the Cup under the names of their sponsors, this year's tournament will be a Nations Cup in which each team represents its patron's country of origin. France, Germany, Great Britain and Switzerland are the countries contending for victory in the tournament in St. Moritz from January 27th to 30th, 2011.


Come to the 27th St. Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow!

Free entry to the polo games and the piazza. Grandstand and hospitality tickets will be available at the ticket desk on the lake from Thursday to Sunday. Opening hours: 10.30 h – 16.00 h.

Further information available at the website www.polostmoritz.com.

St.Moritz in pictures

Sun setting over Engadine mountains

Looking down the Engadine valley

St.Moritz's City Hall by night

 Hanselmann café

 Christmas lights

 Christmas tree infront of the Palace hotel

St.Moritz: a weekend escape

Looking for a glamorous weekend escape? St Moritz is the embodiment of Swiss chic, and has been so since the resort’s beginnings in 1854. Nestled at the centre of the Engadine valley, St Moritz boasts more than 350 kilometres of groomed slopes in 4 connected ski areas. St.Moritz is only 2 hours drive away from Lugano. Given the heavy snowfalls over the past weeks, an excursion to the lovely valley of Engadine is an excellent idea.

The Engadine - where people greet each other with 'Allegra', a Romansh (Switzerland’s 4^th national language) expression roughly meaning, in today's terms, 'be happy'.

A Romansh legend about this patch of land is still told by the inhabitants: "When the archangel had sealed the gate to paradise behind Adam and Eve, God stood in the now-deserted Garden of Eden and was filled with pity for the people who had chosen the path of sin. He therefore called for his angels, and told them that from then onwards paradise was to remain closed to all human beings. However, he wished to create for them a place on earth that would remind them of their lost homeland, a place that should be close to heaven and filled with all things beautiful, yet not perfect. Obeying this divine order, the angels duly created a paradise on earth: the Engadine.

Even if you are not a skier there is a child friendly ice-rink, romantic sleigh rides and picturesque walking paths around the lakes to be discovered. On a clear, cold air night the stars seem so close that you feel as if you could reach out and touch them. Nothing beats lying in the snow all bundled up with your kids looking up into the sky waiting to catch a shooting star.

Please check out my link list for some local tips on St.Moritz and the Engadine valley.