St Moritz Has Been Alpine Old Money's Winter Address Since the 1860s

St Moritz, in Switzerland's Engadin valley, is generally credited as the birthplace of winter tourism in the Alps. In 1864, hotelier Johannes Badrutt is said to have wagered a group of English summer guests that the valley was just as pleasant in winter, offering to cover their costs if they were unhappy, a story the resort itself still tells as its founding legend; whether or not every detail is exact, the winter season that followed did take hold, and St Moritz has drawn a European and international aristocratic crowd back every winter since.

The Cresta Run and a very old private club

The St Moritz Tobogganing Club, founded in 1887, still runs the Cresta Run, a natural ice toboggan track rebuilt fresh every winter, on which members ride face-first at high speed. Membership has long skewed toward European and international aristocracy and business dynasties, and the club has kept a men-only riding policy that has made it a point of occasional controversy alongside its status as one of the oldest winter sporting institutions still operating largely as it always has.

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Two Winter Olympics and a grand hotel row

St Moritz hosted the Winter Olympics twice, in 1928 and again in 1948, the only Alpine resort to have done so more than once in that era, and its lakefront is still lined with the grand belle-époque hotels built for that early tourist boom, including the Kulm Hotel, where the first Winter Olympics opening ceremony was held, and Badrutt's Palace Hotel, opened in 1896 and still run by descendants of the same family.

Why the crowd has stayed loyal

Part of St Moritz's durability as an old-money fixture is geographic: the Engadin's high altitude gives it reliably strong winter sun and snow, while its relative remoteness by road, reached mainly via mountain passes or the scenic Glacier Express rail line, has kept it from becoming as easily accessible, and as crowded, as some other major Alpine resorts.

Traveller tips

• The Cresta Run operates a members-only, invitation-based system rather than public access; spectators can watch from designated areas in season.
• St Moritz is reachable by the scenic Glacier Express and Bernina Express rail lines, both popular ways to arrive without driving mountain passes.
• The main winter season runs roughly December to March; summer draws a quieter hiking and lake-sports crowd at lower prices.
• Zürich Airport is the most common international gateway, with onward rail or road transfer of around three hours.