Powder & PARTIES
Sunny slopes of St. Moritz are winter's perfect playpen for the beautiful people
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland -- It all started with a bet. For centuries, the English had been flocking to Switzerland's tiny hamlet of St. Moritz near the Swiss border with Italy. They spent their summers here soaking in the mineral springs -- and soaking up the alpine scenery. When summer left, so did the tourists.
On a wet September day in 1864, St. Moritz hotel pioneer Johannes Badrutt made a few of his English guests a wager. Come back in the winter, Badrutt told them. He promised St. Moritz would be sunny and spectacular. If they didn't like it, he'd reimburse their traveling expenses. If they did like it, they could stay as long as they like -- on his dime.
Faced with a deal too good to refuse, the skeptical Brits returned to St. Moritz just before Christmas. They ice skated on the frozen lakes, sledded down frosty slopes and lounged on sun-soaked terraces, sometimes in nothing more than pants and a short-sleeved shirt. They stayed until Easter, and one of Europe's premier alpine winter resort towns was born.
Nearly a century and a half later, the English have to share their snowy playground with throngs of international visitors who come each winter to ski and, just as importantly, to apres ski. St. Moritz's legendary party scene is as good as its powder -- and that's saying something, given that this powder has hosted two Winter Olympics (1928 and 1948).
Tucked away in the dramatic Upper Engadine Valley of the Swiss Alps, St. Moritz claims to be the sunniest place in Switzerland. It boasts an average of 322 days of sunny rays a year, giving the resort town a sparkling, dry "champagne climate." Clear blue skies are the usual backdrop for the Eastern Alps, whose snowy peaks look like huge chunks of dark chocolate topped with powdered sugar.
It didn't take long for this Swiss village -- where visitors outnumber residents -- to evolve into one of the chicest, most exclusive ski resorts in Europe. It's filled with five, five-star hotels and rows of high-end shops -- Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta -- with price tags lofty enough to match the town's roughly 6,000-foot elevation.
This high altitude helps guarantee good snow conditions from December until May, the time of year when St. Moritz literally shines. (Bring your sunglasses ... and they'd better be designer.)
Even though plenty of tourists still come here on summer pilgrimages, it's a different scene in the warmer months. Summer tends to attract the Birkenstock crowd; in winter, it's the Manolo Blahnik set. Women are as iced out as the sprawling St. Moritz Lake, whose frozen waters serve as a stage for polo and cricket matches and greyhound races.
The frozen lake also is the stunning setting each February for White Turf, three weekends of horse racing in the snow -- a tradition that dates back more than 100 years. Thousands of jet-setters turn up to drink champagne and watch thoroughbreds' pounding hooves kick up clouds of snow. Another White Turf favorite is the unusual sport of skikjoring, where a riderless horse tows a skier around the track at speeds surpassing 30 mph.
Those who want to be more than spectators can go bobsledding, try curling and enjoy phenomenal cross-country and downhill skiing and snowboarding, or make like James Bond and ski off the top of Corviglia mountain, hang gliding down to the frozen lake below.
Perhaps the favorite winter sport in St. Moritz: people watching. And the best place to do it is Badrutt's Palace, the ultra-luxe hotel still owned by the ancestors of Johannes Badrutt, the man who singlehandedly transformed St. Moritz into a year-round destination.
In this 159-guest-room Belle Epoque bastion of elegance, people come to see and be seen. The cavernous lobby's checkerboard black and white marble hallway is known as the catwalk, where Russian glamazons and Prada princesses strut their stuff before settling their Size 6 ski pants into one of the richly upholstered wingback chairs. It's a fitting metaphor for the nouveau riche taking over the old guard's turf.
In the hotel's legendary Renaissance Bar, $22 bellinis -- and priceless stories -- get served up by the gregarious Mario Da Como, who's been concocting cocktails for royalty, world leaders and Hollywood stars since 1963.
I asked Da Como what changes he's noticed over nearly half a century of working at one of the grandest hotels in Europe.
"It's not the hotel who changed; it's the people," he says in an Italian accent laden with nostalgia. "Now, they want fresh mango juice at lunch, not so many dry martinis."
Tastes change. Old money makes way for new. But with 322 days of sunshine a year in the snowy Swiss Alps, St. Moritz always will be a winter hot spot. You can bet on it.
Single standard rooms at Badrutt's Palace start at $200 in low season (early and late summer). That same room costs $417 this time of year; www.badruttspalace.com.