2018 Snow Polo With St. Regis in Aspen

The week before Christmas, we were so pleased to be invited to attend the World Snow Polo Championships in Aspen, Colorado, by our friends at the St. Regis Hotel team.

It was such a great snow getaway for our whole family, and we were had so much fun in Aspen, I must share it with you!  It was the first time to watch snow polo, and for Red Bear and me, it was our first time to learn to ski, as well.  We all loved it so much, we can’t wait for another great snow getaway.  (Depending on the weather, we’re already planning to ski again before Red Bear’s Christmas vacation ends, so that tells you how much we enjoyed it.)

Below are some highlights of our trip, and it’s our pleasure to share with you.

[About St. Regis]

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts is a luxury hotel chain that is part of the Starwood hotel group, which is owned by Marriott International, so you can understand that there is a ton of hotel expertise involved here.  The St. Regis Hotels brand actually was born in 1904, when American multi-millionaire John Jacob Astor IV opened the first St. Regis Hotel in New York City.  (There’s an interesting and melancholy footnote about Mr. Astor, that he was one of those people who perished when the Titanic sank in 1912; his new and pregnant wife  — 18 years younger than him — survived, and later gave birth to a son.)

This was my third time staying in a St. Regis Hotel, and they are all truly luxury experiences in every way.  You can see my first St. Regis San Francisco experience here, and my St. Regis New York experience here.

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St. Regis Aspen is set in a grand red brick building near the base of Aspen Mountain, in absolutely the most convenient spot in Aspen, pretty much central to the business and recreational part of the village.  Aspen is pretty much a “walking town” for visitors, because it is small and everything is pretty close — from the St. Regis, just a 3-minute walk to the gondolas of Aspen Mountain, just over one block to the central hub for the free shuttle buses that you can ride to any of the ski resorts in the area, and close to almost all of the boutiques, restaurants, and clubs in town.  It is also just 2 miles from Aspen Golf & Tennis Club, but we did not go there, since it is ski season now.

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The St. Regis Aspen has a heated outdoor pool, a spa (which I really enjoyed), and a fitness center, plus an on-site restaurant, lounge, and a business center.  One of the nights, we were invited to a Midnight Supper with the St. Regis Hotels team and the other friends at Eleven Madison Park’s new cozy pop-up, EMP Winter House, right inside the St. Regis Aspen.  It was such a fabulous night, with exquisite food and wine (in 5 courses!) that was presented flawlessly, and we all shared a lot of laughter.  They also accommodated my husband’s vegan diet, and presented him with 5 special vegan dishes — and he said it was some of the most delicious food he ever had.  Well done, St. Regis!  If you are interested. I highlighted some of the moment in my Instagram stories here, I will be happy if you are interested in check them out and love them!

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I have to give another special shout out to the St. Regis staff — in my experience, it is always attentive and polite and efficient, but on the night of the Midnight Dinner they went far above and beyond to help with a peculiar request I presented.  The Midnight Dinner, naturally, was an affair for grown-ups only, so Red Bear had to wait in our room, watching television and playing video games.  He wanted a pizza, but none was available on the room service menu, so I asked the food and beverage manager if anything could be done.  He promised to work on it, and next thing I know, maybe 30 minutes later, he told us that he had a pizza for Red Bear, that we could take to the room (Red Bear won’t open the door for anyone except us in a hotel).  It was the biggest pizza I ever saw, and hit the spot perfectly!  I later learned that it was a big operation by St. Regis staff, also involving the concierge, and an outside pizza restaurant.  I don’t know their names, but many more thanks to all the St. Regis staff who helped so graciously!

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What I Wore: Dress // Chanel Bag// Chanel Shoes // Earrings

 

[About Snow Polo]

The big event that drew us to Aspen was an invitation from the St. Regis team to attend the World Snow Polo Championship games.

Polo has been the sport of kings for centuries, played on grass fields from Wellington to Jaipur.  I have enjoyed watching it in Los Angeles a few times, and it is also played near home in Santa Barbara and La Quinta (near Palm Springs).  But professional snow polo is an evolution that was introduced in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1985.  It differs from regular polo in 4 major ways — it is played on snow, there are 3 players on each team instead of 4, there are 3 chukkers (periods) instead of 4, and it uses a small inflated ball, something like a little beachball.  But the play, competition, and excitement are all the same as regular polo, and the players are among of the best in the world.

According to aspenpeak-magazine.com , Marc and Melissa Ganzi brought polo to Roaring Fork Valley, where Aspen is located, when they opened the Aspen Valley Polo Club in Carbondale.  At Aspen Valley Polo Club, the best players in the world compete in tournaments, and children and adults can receive polo instruction.  Local residents are encouraged to watch matches for free!

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Professional snow polo is popular in Switzerland, Italy, and Argentina, but in the United States, Aspen is the only place where it is played.  In Aspen, onlookers are treated to the beautiful spectacle of riders and horses competing against the backdrop of mountains and snow.  Perfectly timed after the Argentine Open, the Aspen competition draws polo superstar players such as Nacho Figueras and Nic Roldan, who hope to add some final points to their season totals.

The World Snow Polo Championship finals took place December 19-21.  Game viewing was free for spectators in the general admission area, and there was a wonderful VIP tent with abundant food, drink, and sociable guests.  St. Regis was one of caterers, hosts, and sponsors, and did a perfect job.  By the way, I am told you can watch the World Snow Polo Championship games on chukkertv.com , where you can also enjoy the bold, sometimes hilarious announcer describing the match.

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What I Wore: Coat (similar)// Jeans // Boots // Sunglasses // Sweater (similar)

 

 

[About Skiing in Aspen]

Aspen is well-known as one of the greatest ski places in the world.  It really has 4 ski mountains in the immediate area, all centered on Aspen Village.  They are so close that they are all served by the same free public shuttle bus system, and they can all be skied with the same lift ticket!  The 4 mountains are Aspen Mountain (called Ajax by some people), right in the Village, and Buttermilk Mountain, Snowmass, and Highlands, each a short, free shuttle ride away.

With all this ski opportunity around us, we took advantage of it!  On my second day there, a group of us went to Snowmass, where we took a group ski lesson.  The instructors are so great, I was skiing happily within less than 2 hours, and really enjoyed it.

We encouraged Red Bear to take a lesson, too, which he did on the third day.  He went to Buttermilk Mountain for his lesson — we had not planned it out in advance, so we just signed up for the lessons and rented his equipment there.  That turns out to be the pricey way to do things; if we had planned it out and rented equipment ahead of time in town, and signed up for the lesson earlier online, we would have saved plenty.  There are many websites offering good package for ski lessons, so you may want to go searching around before your trip.  We didn’t do it, but it was so convenient to just go and pay at Buttermilk Mountain.  Anyway, it was worth it — totally!  Red Bear has great balance, and with his excellent instructor named Tiny Tim (yes, he’s very tall), he was skiing like a pro by the end of his first day.  In fact, he loved it so much, he went back to Buttermilk Mountain to ski on a more challenging slope the next day, even though we had to leave for the airport at 1 p.m!  Red Bear said, “Skiing is the best sport experience of my life — I love how peaceful it feels when I’m sliding down the mountain.” — (Yes, those were his own words.)

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[About Aspen]

It was our first time to visit Aspen, and we fell in love with this place after a couple days getting around.  Not only that they carry so many designer brands in all kinds of different cute stores for fashion shoppers like me, but the city transportation and the functioning of the whole town was so great!

Many interesting restaurants are also in a walking distance, which I greatly enjoyed.  I had a bad altitude reaction when I got there — nothing new for me, it takes me a day or two to adjust to staying in a high altitude place — so I just wanted to spend some time in the “oxygen room” at the Spa inside St. Regis Aspen — thumbs up for that, by the way!  My husband was fine, though, and eager to walk around Aspen, so he went out one day and got yummy food for all of us just a block away, at a simple but commendable place called Hamburger CP.  They handled our vegan needs with a tasty falafel burger, delicious kale salad, french fries, and sweet potato fries, as well as grilled cheese sandwich — and we all dined for less than $30!  It was so tasty, healthy, and convenient, we all loved it!

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