Photos: Rosario Liberti
Tuberculosis is a heck of a way to start an article about some ice racing history, and an even wilder way for a town to find its purpose, but here we are. Back in 1866, an Englishman named Arthur Edward Vansittart Strettell, while coughing his bloody lungs out, decided St. Moritz might just save his life. The pure alpine air (or luck) worked its magic, and he stuck around long enough for people to notice. Soon, more of Europe’s well-heeled started showing up,not just to breathe better, but to winter in style.
That might have been part of the beginning, but Johannes Badrutt, a Swiss hotelier, turned it into a destination. In 1864, he made a bold wager with his English summer guests: return in winter, and if you don’t love it, I’ll pay for your entire trip. They took the bet, expecting bitter cold and suffering. Instead, they found sunshine bouncing off snow-capped peaks, a winter unlike anything they had known. St. Moritz was no longer just a retreat, it is possibly the birthplace of luxury winter tourism.
By the time it hosted the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics, St. Moritz was more than just ski chalets and cocktails. It was home to the Cresta Run, a skeleton track where men in tweed willingly hurled themselves face-first down a mile of ice. Horse racing? On ice. Polo? On ice. It was only a matter of time before we ended up with cars, on ice. If it could be done with risk and elegance, it happened at St. Moritz.
Fast forward to 2019, and The ICE St. Moritz started carrying that same spirit forward. But this time, instead of jockeys or sledders, it’s Ferrari 250 SWBs, Bugatti Type 35s, and Maserati 450Ss sliding across the frozen lake, their reflections blurry and fractal on the ice. Part concours, part fever dream, spiked tires chew through ice while vintage race cars dance across a surface that was never meant for them.
And then there’s the light, snow refracting golden-hour sunlight, exhaust vapor swirling in the cold. It’s a photographer’s paradise, a filmmaker’s storyboard, a dreamscape of speed and style. With a little history behind us, and that light in mind, we’re sharing a gallery of the finest photos from St. Moritz 2025. Enjoy the view.
