The Best Outfits and Watches At St. Moritz

February 15, 2022

Add horses to soccer and you have polo. Add snow and you have snow polo, add grand views and a bit of luck and you have snow polo in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Teams gather the best riders from around the world and face off across the frozen lake of St. Moritz for three days of horsemanship, fierce competition, and especially cold champagne. Glasses in hand, leaning into the wooden barrier as riders barrel past, the onlookers make for Olympic-level people watching, as well. Snow Polo is a gentlemans sport, qualified by never starting before the civil hour of 10AM. If you find yourself up early, or still up, you can catch the riders at Cresta Run heading down on a toboggan run for a near-vertical 3/4 mile at speeds between 70 and 140 kph. For amateur riders, the challenge is to stay on the course through its deadly curves, while seasoned riders strive for improving finishing times by microseconds. While the various branches of the British Armed Forces jet down the Cresta Run, a woman named Uschi Moos watches from the clubhouse with her 1 of 300 SMTC (thats St. Moritz Tobogganing club) members-only watch. A central social figure at the SMTC she is also a veteran rider, and affectionately called Moose by fellow club members. Back on the frozen lake of St. Moritz, the Snow Polo Championship has boiled down to a final between Azerbaijan and Clinique La Prairie, but the brothers Laplacette of Azerbaijan dominate both the field and scoreboard. Finishing 5.5 points ahead, they take the championship. Zach Weiss presents the years MVP award Pasha De Cartier to Raul Laplacette, a gift from the Ganzi Familly on behalf of the World Polo League. Lange 1 Time Zone ref. 116.021 Patek Philippe Aquanaut Zach Weiss Rolex Date with diamond bezel Patek Philippe Calatrava Uschi Moos Cartier Panthere Small W25022B9 265.8.08 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Rolex Precision ref. 6694 Rolex Datejust Rolex "Pepsi" GMT-Master II Raul Laplacette All photos, Robert Spangle