Photo: A fresh covering of snow in the amount of 13 inches will make for the perfect setting for this year’s Aspen World Snow Polo Cup.
It would be hard to deny that Mother Nature had her eyes on this year’s Aspen World Snow Polo Cup scheduled to get underway with a tournament draw on Wednesday night, December17th followed by Thursday’s competition at the Aspen Valley Polo Club’s indoor arena.
Friday and Saturday action will take to the snow-covered fields of Rio Grande Park thanks to a mid-December storm dumped over 13’ of much needed snow on the Colorado landscape, and the title sponsorship by the St. Regis Hotels and Resorts.
Six teams will be competing in the world-class competition including players from Argentina, Australia, Wales, Mexico, Pakistan, Canada and the United States. The team lineups are: St. Regis (Brian Boyd, Carlitos Gracida and Nacho Figueras), Flexjet (Melissa Ganzi, Juan Bollini and Jeff Hall), U.S. Polo Assn. (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini and Nic Roldan), Audi (Marc Ganzi, Ricky Cooper and Tommy Biddle), One Caribbean Estates (Bash Kazi, Martin Estrada and Brandon Phillips) and ChukkerTV (Bernie Uechtritz, Martin Pepa and Mariano Gracida).
The players will be introduced during the tournament draw Wednesday evening at The St. Regis Aspen Resort, and the pairings for the opening round of play will be announced.
First round games are sponsored by Mexico’s La Patrona Polo & Equestrian Club, and are scheduled for Thursday, December 17th from 11:30 am to 3 pm MST at the Aspen Valley Polo Club Arena in Carbondale.
On Friday and Saturday, the action moves to Aspen’s Rio Grande Park. Playoff games for fifth and sixth places are scheduled to be played from noon to 3 pm.
On Saturday spectators will get the opportunity to meet the players at noon. The final and subsidiary games along with the trophy presentation will run from 1 to 4pm.
During Saturday’s action, polo fans can relax and watch world-class snow polo from the VIP Pavilion while enjoying mountain fare from The St. Regis Aspen Resort, including the brand’s signature Afternoon Tea Service.
The VIP Pavilion features full access to the heated tent, lunch courtesy of The St. Regis Aspen Resort and cocktails.
ChukkerTV, worldwide leaders in polo broadcasting, will live stream the Dec. 17-19 St. Regis World Snow Polo Championship. It is the first time the much-anticipated tournament will be live streamed in its entirety and exclusively by ChukkerTV.