European Ski Season

As etapas estão ordenadas por calendário. As datas apresentadas são a próxima edição de cada etapa; um estado tracejado significa que o organizador ainda não confirmou.

01Quem o acompanha

Skiers first, and then the people who go to the mountains in January for the events: the Davos delegates and the press that follows them, the racing public at Wengen and Kitzbühel, the polo and racing followers who fill the St. Moritz lakeside for the Snow Polo World Cup and White Turf, and the chamber-music audience at the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad. The resorts' own regulars are the constant; the events bring a different crowd each weekend.

02Por que estes eventos se conectam

They connect because they fall on consecutive weekends within a two-hour drive of one another, and because the Swiss and Austrian Alps in late January are the one place the winter calendar has real density. The two downhills are World Cup fixtures scheduled by the sport's governing body; Davos is scheduled by the Forum; the lake events depend on ice and are timed for the coldest weeks; the fireworks in Courchevel and the Engadin marathon extend the season into March. None of them was designed with the others in mind, and the sequence exists because the mountains are small.

Numerado por ordem de etapa; a linha tracejada segue a sequência.

03A progressão típica

Davos in the third week of January, overlapping the Lauberhorn weekend at Wengen. Kitzbühel's Hahnenkamm the weekend after, with the Saturday downhill as the season's centerpiece. The Snow Polo World Cup on the St. Moritz lake in the last weekend of January, and the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad across the same ten days. White Turf on the St. Moritz lake on the Sundays of February. The Courchevel International Fireworks Festival on Thursday evenings from February into March. The Engadin Skimarathon across the frozen lakes on the second Sunday of March to close.

04Geografia

The Engadin in the Graubünden (St. Moritz), the Bernese Oberland (Wengen and Gstaad), the Landwasser valley (Davos), the Tyrol (Kitzbühel) and the Tarentaise (Courchevel). All but Courchevel are in Switzerland or within an hour of its border; the drive from Davos to St. Moritz is ninety minutes over the Flüela or Julier pass in good conditions, and to Kitzbühel about three hours. Courchevel is a separate French chapter.

05Calendário sugerido

The last ten days of January, based in St. Moritz or Gstaad, are the circuit's peak and cover the polo, the music and a downhill within reach. The Hahnenkamm weekend is a destination in itself and Kitzbühel's beds are booked a year out. The Christmas fortnight is the resorts' fullest and priciest and has no events. March is for the marathon and for skiing in longer light.

06Sobreposições relevantes

Davos and the Lauberhorn share a weekend; the Snow Polo World Cup and the Sommets Musicaux share a fortnight; the Hahnenkamm falls in the same days as the Australian Open's second week, the Winter X Games in Aspen and Sundance in Park City, and a week after the couture shows in Paris. White Turf's Sundays coincide with the Berlinale and the BAFTAs. The Engadin marathon shares its week with TEFAF Maastricht and Cheltenham.

07Para onde as pessoas vão depois

To the sun. From St. Moritz and Gstaad in February the movement is to Palm Beach for the end of the equestrian season, to St. Barts for the Bucket in March, to Monaco for the Bal de la Rose and the Masters, and to Dubai for the World Cup. The mountains return to the calendar in July with the Verbier and Gstaad music festivals and the Hublot Polo Gold Cup in August.