The return of snow polo

Set on a frozen Alpine lake in the glitzy Swiss ski resort of St. Moritz, the 37^th annual Snow Polo World Cup — the world’s oldest snow polo tournament, held over the last weekend in January — is quite the sight to behold.

With 322 days of sunshine per year, St. Moritz’s cloudless winter sky is the kind of highly saturated, completely uniform cyan blue usually only found on Pantone colour swatches. Standing in contrast are the snow-capped mountains, blindingly white and fleecy with larch pines. On the polo grounds, which is actually a frozen lake roofed in 50 centimetres of ice, scampering ponies armed with studded snow shoes kick up frosty clouds of snowflakes as the players —four per team — whack their mallets against the ball, red and glossy against the ice. Lasting four chukkas (periods) at around just seven minutes each, the matches are swift, action-packed, and full of thrills, but the spectacle of the three-day event isn’t just confined to the games.