Puddles decorate horse races: New York Times, St. Complaining about the slush in St. Moritz

class = “sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

This year’s St. There would be no need for flashy fur hats and stylish moon boots at the White Turf in St. Moritz GR: The thermometer climbed to 8 degrees in the first of this weekend’s three races on Sunday. With temperatures extremely high for the Engadine, spectators of world-famous horse races – many of whom are part of upper-class society – can safely flaunt their cashmere sweaters instead of their thick winter coats.

“Slush instead of snowball”

While visitors appreciate the sunshine and mild temperatures, this has Graubsun tourism professionals worried. Frozen St. The puddles on the edge of Lake Moritz create a rather ugly appearance. At the annual Snow Polo World Cup, held at the same venue a week ago, the organizers even had to change the program due to weather conditions: the playing field was not safe enough to allow the horses to gallop over the snow cover. Instead of real polo games, there were only penalty shoot-outs.

“They took their horses to the Swiss Alps to play snowball. “Instead they got slush,” writes the New York Times, one of the world’s largest newspapers. And it paints a less than positive picture of the slush in Switzerland’s so-called winter sports paradise.

On the opening weekend of the White Turf, the horses were able to gallop along the ice and snow racetrack as usual. But the organizers had to get creative to make this possible: the layer was further reinforced with artificial snow. Images of excavators carrying snow masses into the lake angered people.

St. The ice sheet on Lake Moritz is safe for horses and jockeys as well as thousands of guests. Authorities have strict regulations on the required thickness of the ice. Yet Switzerland’s image as a snowy Alpine paradise has suffered.

Images scare visitors

Martin Vincenz (61) was in the Engadin last weekend and snowball matches had to be replaced by penalty shoot-outs. He is CEO of Graubsunu Ferien, the tourism marketing organization of the canton of Graubsunu. “The organizers came up with a creative solution and made the best of the situation,” praises Vincenz.

However, images of bribery in leading global media hurt him. “But it’s the truth; we don’t want to take fake photos,” Vincenz points out. As climate change progresses, images of snow-covered landscapes can be seen from the 1,822-meter-high St. It is becoming increasingly rare even in St. Moritz. This is also seen repeatedly at World Ski Cup races, including the Adelboden BE a year ago, where white strips of snow on grassy green fields regularly angered people.

“Such reports can influence the decision-making process of potential visitors,” says Dominik Knaus (38), head of the Institute of Tourism and Leisure at the Graubeğen University of Applied Sciences (FHGR). He also sees the slushy images as an opportunity: “This could be a wake-up call for winter sports facilities to further diversify their offerings.” Relying on alternative winter offers and summer tourism. Many are already doing this; for example, it encourages mountain biking and trail running rather than just skiing and snowboarding.

A consolation for the organizers of the White Turf and Snowball World Cup: St. Petersburg for horse racing. The tens of thousands of visitors who flock to St. Moritz still prefer a patch of mud at the edge of the racetrack to the icy wind. or heavy snowfall.

Source :Blick