Maserati gained traction throughout the 32nd annual Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz to enter the final and eventually edge defending champion Cartier 5-4 in front of 13,000 spectators.

Preparations began months in advance and organizers kept a close eye on the ice formation on Lake St. Moritz leading up to the event. By January, organizers were pleased with the progress.

The ice on the lake of St. Moritz is forming marvellously well,” said Reto Gaudenzi, founder and CEO of the Snow Polo World Cup. “The ice is top quality, too, so that we were able to start building the infrastructure [earlier than expected]. Low temperatures and moderate snow fall was favorable to the ice formation and by early January the ice was 15 inches thick and increasing each day.

See-Infra Ltd., the town’s dedicated building company, prepared the polo field on a surface of 215,000 square feet. Another 38,000 square feet held tents and spectator grandstands for 1,100 people.

Later, heavy snowfall pressed the ice layer into the water, causing water to rise about the ice, mixing with the snow and freezing over. This icy mix left the snow unsuitable for polo. “Snow polo cannot be played at a world-class level without a compacted layer of snow. If the surface is too frozen, the ponies may slip and get hurt,” Gaudenzi explained.

Our ponies are our athletes. We will do everything we can to keep our ponies and our players from being hurt.”

A layer of man-made snow was applied to improve the playing conditions. By the time the tournament kicked off on January 29, the polo field was in excellent shape, with the breathtaking backdrop of the Engadin Mountains.

In the first match, defending champion Cartier, made up of an all- British team, took on Swiss-Brasilian Perrier-Jouët. Chris Hyde put Cartier on the board with an early penalty conversion followed by a field goal to end the first chukker ahead 2-0. Perrier- Jouët answered in the second with a high-speed run along the wall to goal before Olavo Novaes’ backhander equalized the score. Hyde put Cartier back on top before the chukker ended.

Cartier took the momentum back in the third with a pair of goals from Hyde and a penalty conversion to jump ahead 6-2. Aluisio Rosa put in a final goal for Perrier-Jouët but it wasn’t enough and Cartier had the win.

The next game had Badrutt’s Palace Hotel take on Maserati. Badrutt’s was captained by Melissa Ganzi, the first women to compete in St. Moritz Snow Polo since its inception in 1985. She is no stranger to snow polo as she competes in Aspen Snow Polo each year, hosted by her and her husband’s Aspen Valley Polo Club. She also regularly competes in high-goal polo.

The teams played a defensive battle, with the initial score not coming until late in the first when Dario Musso broke the stalemate for Maserati. Badrutt’s Agustin Merlos missed a penalty, and a goal by Rommy Gianni put Maserati ahead 2-0.

While Maserati was leaning hard on Merlos, Ganzi made a run, passing to Mariano Gracida who put Badrutt on the board. Maserati scored right out of the lineup to take a 3-1 lead. The defensive battle continued in the fourth chukker with Maserati getting caught in a foul in front of the goal. Merlos scored the penalty to cut the difference to just one. But, Maserati held on for the win and the Trois Pommes Trophy.

We had a rough start but once we figured it out we had a good second half,” Ganzi said. “We just ran out of time, we needed a little more time. We had never played together before, it was a lot of fun.”

The second day of play had Maserati taking on Cartier, while Badrutt’s Palace Hotel faced Perrier-Jouët. A brisk southerly wind made it difficult to control the ball, but it did not stop Merlos from finding the mark with a nearside neck to goal. Cédric Schweri put Perrier-Jouët on the board with a penalty conversion, followed by a goal straight from the throw-in. Ganzi helped propel a 60-yard penalty from Merlos through the goal to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of the second chukker.

Perrier-Jouët took control in the third, with three in a row, but Gracida scored for Badrutt before the horn. In the final chukker, Gaudenzi scored after an end-toend run, then Merlos shot to goal but with the ball bouncing wide, Gracida was there for the rebound to knot the score with a second to spare.

In overtime, Gracida hit the mark to give Badrutt’s the win. Maserati and Cartier, both winners from the previous day, met for the next match. Neither team was able to reach the goal in the first chukker, and it was Maserati that dominated the second with two penalty conversions and a field goal to Cartier’s penalty goal.

A pair of Penalty 3 conversions from Hyde in the third tied the score, and a difficult shot gave Cartier the 4-3 lead. Maserati raced back in the fourth, scoring the only goal to force overtime.

Early in the fifth chukker, Hyde and his son Jack’s grey mare, Promise, took a nasty fall in front of the stands, but fortunately, neither horse nor player were injured. Four minutes into the chukker, Nacho Gonzalez found the mark for Cartier to advance to the final.

The final match would be a rematch and an opportunity for Maserati to get revenge as it took second place, thus earning the second final spot.

But first, the players would enjoy a celebration. At Saturday’s Snow Polo Night, players started out in the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel’s ballroom before moving on to the hotel’s King’s Club, with the fun lasting into the early hours.

Sunday saw the same pairing as the previous day with Badrutt’s Palace Hotel up against Perrier-Jouët for the subsidiary La Martina Cup, while Cartier and Maserati would duel for the Cartier Trophy. Spectators gathered around the polo field despite the damp, drizzly skies.

In the subsidiary match, Argentine 9- goaler Agustin ‘Tincho’ Merlos made the difference and allowed Badrutt to secure the win. Merlos wrapped goals around one from Perrier-Jouët for a 2-1 lead after two chukkers. Goals by Gaudenzi and Merlos allowed Badrutt to maintain the one-goal difference at 4-3.

\We played really great today and got up as a team, I have great teammates,” said Merlos, the highest-handicapped player in the tournament.

The difference was we were used to playing together as a team,” Ganzi said. Added Gracida, “Today was one of those days where everything went well so I can’t complain.”

Perrier-Jouët missed two opportunities from the penalty line in the final chukker, while Merlos struck again, giving Badrutt the 5-3 win.

In the final match, Hyde and Gonzalez put Cartier on the board, but their goals were matched by Mussio. Cartier failed to capitalize on five penalties in the second, while Menendes scored one for Maserati to take a small advantage, 3-2.

Maserati extended its lead to 5-2 in the third after Cartier struggled. In the final chukker, Cartier managed to close the gap to 5-4 and with just a minute left, drove to goal. It looked like Cartier might tie the score, but Maserati maintained the pressure and prevented the goal. Maserati drove home the winner to take the championship.

Snow polo is not the only winter sport in the area. The famous Cresta Run, a natural ice skeleton racing-toboggan track, is not far away. And after the snow polo, the frozen lake plays host to White Turf, a tradition dating back to 1907, featuring international horse racing on snow, including flat and trotting races, complete with betting offices. It also includes men and women on skis pulled at high speeds by horses in the only skijoring race in the world.