40th Anniversary Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz
Today the Snow Polo World Cup celebrates its Ruby anniversary. An incredible 40 years have passed since a seemingly crazy idea to play polo on the spectacular frozen lake of St. Moritz was thought up by the ‘Godfather of Snow Polo’ Reto Gaudenzi.
As a local to the St. Moritz area, Reto brought the concept to an incredible reality, hosting some of the best polo players, jet-set glitterati, the world’s media and also personally competing and notching up an impressive five wins in the tournament himself. And what an incredible 40 years it has been.
Since that memorable weekend in 1985 The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz has established itself as the world's only high-goal tournament on snow and has become an integral part of the global polo calendar. It has been an extraordinary journey to achieve unparallelled luxury, sporting excellence and exclusivity, all wrapped up with the best of Swiss efficiency and outstanding Engadin hospitality.
Every year, the event goes from strength to strength, with the VIP hospitality and Gala Dinner evening sold out months in advance as 25,000 spectators converge onto the frozen lake to witness the unique event.
Today, the six international high goal teams representing nine nationalities took to the perfectly frozen lake to compete in the first day of the intense competition, with superstar snow polo specialist players showcasing their skills. Five-time winner Max Charlton and double title holder Tito Gaudenzi were joined by world-class players making their St. Moritz debuts, including the talented high goal superstar Facundo Sola.
With near perfect conditions as the sun shone and the expertly prepared playing surface sparkled, the first match saw The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz 40th edition begin in pristine conditions with TAOS pitted against last year’s winners Mackage. TAOS gelled very well together from the outset and with both sides defending well the chukka began in a fast and flowing pace which delighted the crowds. Mackage had plenty of penalty opportunities, but failed to capitalise on all of them – Nic Roldan eventually found the posts from a penalty to score the first goal of this year’s tournament.
Team TAOS showed off their excellent horsepower, with St. Moritz stalwart Max Charlton gelling well with Alfredo Bigatti and the Bacon brothers adding value time and again. By half-time, the scores were tantalisingly tied at 3-3, with the outcome anyone’s guess. TAOS turned up the heat in the second half and scorched ahead on their unbeatable ponies to take the lead 7-3, with Mackage unable to find their way back into the chukka. TAOS continued to apply the pressure in the fourth chukka and despite two goals from Mackage it was not enough to get them back into contention and TAOS ran out comfortably the winners, 9-5.
After a short break and refill of Perrier-Jouët in the grandstands, the second match began between World Polo League and Flexjet. World Polo League’s line-up included the tournament’s only female player and ‘Queen of Snow Polo’ Melissa Ganzi, who won the title in 2019 alongside her world-class team-mate Alejandro Novillo Astrada – this year is his ninth year competing in the tournament. Meanwhile Flexjet, celebrating their own 30th anniversary this year, started with a half goal advantage and revved their engines in the fast and open first chukka.
It was the experienced combination of Novillo Astrada and Ganzi who worked together seamlessly to kick off the scoring for World Polo League. Gaudenzi opened the scoring for Flexjet in the second chukka, followed by back-to-back penalty goals from Sola propelling Flexjet into the lead, 3½-3. Yet it was a short-lived lead, as Jason Crowder scored a field goal in an exciting pony race against Pelayo Berazadi to clinch the advantage for World Polo League going into half-time, 4-3½
After a half-time break, World Polo League fought hard and made it difficult for Flexjet to perform their set plays and despite challenging wind, Crowder converted a penalty to further extend the lead for World Polo League, 5-3½ going into the crucial fourth chukka. A goal apiece for each side in the last few minutes of the second match saw World Polo League take the win 6-4½.
After a lunch break where VIP guests enjoyed unparalleled levels of luxury in the hospitality marquee and Polo Village it was soon the third and final match of the day between 2022 and 2023 tournament winners, Azerbaijan - Land of Fire and Kusnacht Practice. The pace was frenetic from the off with a strong defence from both sides creating fast and frenetic world-class polo action.
Azerbaijan’s 1½ goal handicap start proved vital in the first half, but The Kusnacht Practice regained their rhythm with two chukkas to go. Persistence paid off and Chris Mackenzie scored a stunning goal into the sun, followed by end-to-end polo and another goal for Kusnacht Practice bringing the score to 5½-4 in favour of Azerbaijan - Land of Fire. Kusnacht Practice’s comeback campaign was well underway going into the fourth chukka and Mackenzie brought the scores tantalisingly close with just half a goal separating the two sides, but Azerbaijan - Land of Fire stayed ahead, 5½-5.
Today’s results mean that tomorrow’s Semi Finals will be: TAOS vs The Kusnacht Practice (12.15pm) in The One & Only Trophy and Azerbaijan - Land of Fire vs World Polo League (2.30pm) in The WAMI Trophy, while the first match of the day will be played between Flexjet and Mackage for The President’s Cup (11am).
Reto Gaudenzi, Founder, CEO and Vice President of Board of Evviva Polo St. Moritz AG, who is also celebrating his birthday today, commented on a thrilling first day: “It was just fantastic! We were blessed with great weather, sold out crowds, thrilling sport and world-class ambiance – a very good start to the tournament”.
The 2026 dates for The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz have been confirmed as Friday 30 January – Sunday 1 February, so get the dates in your diary now!
The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz 2025 Teams:
World Polo League (16): Melissa Ganzi (0), Jason Crowder (5), Alejandro Novillo Astrada (7) & Mariano Gracida (4)
The Kusnacht Practice (16): Eduardo Greghi (0), Francisco Belaustegui (3), Chris Mackenzie (6) & Isidro Strada (7)
Flexjet (15): Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius/Niclas Johansson (0), Pelayo Berazadi (5), Facu Sola (8) & Tito Gaudenzi (2),
Mackage (16): Benji Daniels (1), Grant Ganzi (3), Nic Roldan (7) & Tommy Collingwood (5)
Azerbaijan - Land of Fire (14): Elchin Jamalli (2),Tarlan Gurbanaliyev (0), Adrian Laplacette Jr (6) & Raul Laplacette (6)
Taos (16): Cameron Bacon (0), Dillon Bacon (3), Max Charlton (6) & Alfredo Bigatti (7)
