Existing infrastructure
Three of the five venues that staged events on the official programme at St Moritz’s first Olympic Winter Games in 1928 already existed: the Olympia Bob Run St Moritz, the nearby Cresta Run, and the Skistadion. The remaining two (the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Ski Jumping Hill, also known as the Olympiaschanze) were built especially for the 1928 Games. All five were used again when the resort welcomed the Games for a second time, in 1948. With the exception of the ski jumping hill, they all remain in use today.
The Olympia Bob Run St Moritz and the Cresta Run are both open for use by competitive athletes and the general public every winter, from December through to March. The Bob Run hosted the bobsleigh events at both Games, and the Cresta Run the cresta competitions, the only occasions on which the sport featured on the Olympic programme. Also known in some places as head-first tobogganing, cresta evolved into skeleton, which eventually made its Olympic debut at Salt Lake City 2002. Crafted from snow, ice, wood and rocks every year, St Moritz’s two runs, which opened in 1884 (the Cresta Run) and 1904 (the Bob Run), are the only naturally refrigerated tracks in the world that still host international competitions.
Built in 1927, the main building of the Olympic Stadium was converted into a private residence in 2008, having fallen into a state of disrepair from the 1980s onwards. The area that was once occupied by the outdoor rink is now used as a driving range by the local golf club. The Olympic Stadium hosted the speed skating and figure skating competitions, ice hockey matches, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the 1928 Games, and did so again in 1948.
The two cross-country events at St Moritz 1928 (the 18km and 50km) and the cross-country leg of the Nordic combined started and finished at the resort’s Skistadion. Though the Skistadion’s stands and shooting ranges were dismantled a few years ago, its trails now form part of a 230-kilometre cross-country skiing network catering for both the classic and skating styles. The centrepiece of the network is the challenging 42-kilometre Engadin Ski Marathon route from Maloja to S-chanf. Night-time trails are also available for visitors to enjoy.
Originally built for the 1928 Games, when it hosted one ski jumping event on a 70m hill, the Olympiaschanze again staged a solitary ski jumping competition in 1948, though a 90m hill had been added to the facility by this time. The venue was used by a local ski club through to 2006, when it was closed because of safety concerns. Though plans were drawn up for the construction of a new hill, they were voted down at local government level due to cost issues, with the existing hills subsequently being dismantled and the land rewilded.