St. Moritz in winter is a feast of opulence and glamour, with a history very much shaped by the British and their spirit of adventure. For more than 130 years its also been home of the infamous Cresta Run, the famously hazardous toboggan run.
Two early adventurers were Otto Goring and his son (also Otto), founders of the hotel with the family name in London’s Belgravia, who made it their winter escape in the 1920s and 1930s.
All of which has inspired the imminent creation of The Cresta Bar at The Goring this December, in collaboration with the Kulm Hotel St Moritz, home to the Sunny Bar – the Cresta Run’s unofficial clubroom, where riders come before and after their descent of the infamous ‘men only’ toboggan run, for a fortifying snifter.
The bar at The Goring which will ‘channel the famous Sunny Bar’ will be created on the veranda, overlooking the hotel’s private garden and open on November 28th.
The Cresta Run was first created back in 1885, when five guests (4 British; 1 Australian) formed the Kulm’s ‘Outdoor Amusements Committee’ and built the splendidly dangerous three-quarter mile course down to the ancient village of Cresta, on which the small metal sledges can hit nearly 83mph.
The membership list of the subsequent St Moritz Toboggan Club has contained many famous names through the years including Erroll Flynn, Lord Lucan and more recently James Cracknell.
The Cresta Bar at The Goring will feature everything from a collection of archive photos from the Sunny Bar to an intriguing assortment of the paraphernalia used to survive the Run including metal and leather hand and elbow guards, steel boot rakes and helmets, as well as the famous Shuttlecock Club tie automatically awarded to those who leave the track at Shuttlecock bend.
Special cocktails including Thrills and Spills, Wipe Out and The Shuttlecock have been created especially by Benjamin Wolf, the Kulm’s Master Sommelier.
As Jeremy Goring says, “If you want to do the Cresta Run this winter, but do not have time or a death wish, The Cresta Bar at The Goring is where you need to be.”
