FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THE 33RD EDITION OF THE WORLD'S FIRST AND
FOREMOST SNOW POLO TOURNAMENT

ST. MORITZ IS THE CRADLE OF SNOW POLO. RETO GAUDENZI, TODAY'S HOST • AND ¢eo, AND HANSPETER
DANUSER, THE LEGENDARY TOURISM DIRECTOR OF sT. mORITZ, CAME UP WITH THE SEEMINGLY FARFETCHED
IDEA 1983.
aFTER TWO YEARS OF INTENSIVE PREPARATION, THE FIRST TOURNAMENT TOOK PLACE IN JANUARY 1985 IN
A SNOW BLIZZARD ON A FIELD MEASURING 40 BY 80 METERS, ROUGHLY ONE FIFTH OF THE SIZE OF
TODAY'S FIELD.

• iT IS THE ONLY POLO TOURNAMENT IN THE WORLD PLAYED ON A FROZEN LAKE.
• SIZE OF THE POLO FIELD: 184.6 METERS X 90.0 METRES
• DISTANCE BETWEEN THE GOAL POSTS: 7.25 METRES
• THICKNESS OF THE ICE: BETWEEN 50 CM AND 70 CM
• INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE LAKE: iT TOOK 40 MEN A TOTAL OF 5,600 MAN HOURS (OR THE EQUIVALENT OF 3
MAN YEARS) TO ERECT 2,600 TONS OF TENTS, FENCES, GRAND STANDS AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE ON
THE LAKE IN UNDER 3 WEEKS.
• AMOUNT OF SNOW MADE BY MACHINES TO PREPARE THE POLO FIELD: 5,000 M3
• ALTITUDE OF lAKE sT. mORITZ: 1,768 METERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL
• TEMPERATURES IN JANUARY: -1°¢ (AVERAGE HIGH TEMP.) ⁄ -16°¢ (AVERAGE LOW TEMP.)
• SUNSHINE ON AN AVERAGE JANUARY DAY IN sT. mORITZ: 58$ OF SUNSHINE
• NUMBER OF SPECTATORS 2016: 12,000 SPECTATORS FROM FRIDAY AND sUNDAY
• tOURNAMENT BUDGET: ¢HF 2.5 MILLIONS. nET PRODUCT: ESTIMATED AT ¢HF 10 MILLIONS.
• sTAFF: APPROXIMATELY 150 IN TOTAL, INCLUDING MANY VOLUNTEERS