In the winter, Lake St. Moritz is transformed into an arena of equine excitement, with the frozen lake converting into a powdery terra firma for around 30,000 people who come together to socialise, watch the racehorses, and cheer on the courageous racers taking part in the fast-paced action of skikjöring.

This adrenaline-fuelled spectacle, which has its roots in Scandinavia in the early 20th century, has been part of the White Turf event since 1907. The event involves 8 to 12 racers who expertly guide their horses around the breathtaking 2,700-metre skikjöring course, each competing in three heats to take the most points and win the ultimate accolade of being crowned the King or Queen of the Engadin.

Saddling Up

So, what draws people to a sport that involves going from standing still on a frozen lake to being propelled into a thrilling race with racers pulled by their powerful horses, thundering along at speeds of around 55 kph?

Two people who know are Fabrizio Padrun and Valeria Schiergen, both riding in this year’s skikjöring races. Fabrizio competed for the first time last year, while Valeria has been crowned the Queen of the Engadin three times since her debut competition in 2009. Her introduction to skikjöring was born out of her family’s connection with the sport (her father raced in the White Turf events and was a skikjöring driver, too), as well as her own passion for horses from a young age. “A good friend of my parents had a racing stable, and during the White Turf event, they would often be in St. Moritz, so I would visit the stables, clean them out and stroke the horses. One year, a trainer asked if I rode and put me on a racehorse. I’d never ridden before, but I loved it! I started riding properly in the summer of 2005 in Germany, at the stables where my friends had horses. Once that connection had been formed, I had to wait until I was 18 and old enough to take the exams to obtain my skikjöring licence.

Fabrizio’s route into skikjöring couldn’t be more different. In fact, it was far from something he had ever prepared for, or even thought about. “I was with my girlfriend on Lake St. Moritz in 2022. She was wearing her Chalandamarz dress, which she wears when presenting the prize to the winner of the horse races. The really experienced skier, driver and jockey, Alfredo Lupo Wolf [a former competitor in the White Turf races], came up to us and said, ‘Do you know anyone who's good at skiing? I'm looking for someone young for skikjöring, because we need to have new people getting out there’. My girlfriend just pointed straight at me and said, ‘Well, he’s good at skiing…’”

With “why not?” going through his mind, Fabrizio decided to take up the challenge. Before he was allowed to suit up for a race, though, there were three skikjöring exams to complete: an equestrian test that involved skiing a predetermined parkour; one on the rules and regulations of the sport; and a practical examination. Was it ever a dream of his to compete in the sport? “Every year when I was young, we would go to the lake to watch the skikjöring and cheer on the racers, and really enjoyed it, but if you’d asked me about 10 years ago, I would have said it's too crazy; I would be too afraid to do it.”

Horsing Around