THE I.C.E. ST. MORITZ

The I.C.E., the International Concours of Elegance, is held for two days each winter on the frozen lake at St. Moritz, in the Engadin. Some fifty rare classic and sports cars are shown on the ice on the Friday and driven on it on the Saturday. In 2027 it runs on 29 and 30 January.

It depends on the weather. The ice is tested for safety once it reaches 27 centimetres, and See-Infra AG, a team of specialists working with the local authorities, watches the lake. In February 2024, after more than 60 centimetres of snow fell in sixteen hours, the event was cancelled the day before it was to open, and the tickets were refunded. Petrolicious, writing in 2026, called it the only event on the motoring calendar held over two days on a frozen lake.

The Origins

The idea is older than the event. In January 1985, to mark the centenary of the Cresta Run, a group of its British members led by the Scotsman Keith Schellenberg drove their vintage Bentley tourers onto the frozen lake. Marco Makaus, a manager of motoring brands, was there. He spent the following decades proposing a concours on the ice; the municipality and Badrutt’s Palace were the first to support it.

A demonstration edition was held in the winter of 2019. After two years lost to Covid, the first official edition took place in February 2022. The event is run by The ICE Show AG, with Richard Mille as title sponsor.

In February 2025, 52 cars were shown and the organisers counted more than twenty thousand visitors. The Best in Show trophy, designed by Lord Norman Foster, went to a 1934 Bugatti Type 59. In 2026 the event moved a month earlier, to 30 and 31 January. The jury, which included Foster, Jay Ward of Pixar and Richard Adatto, gave Best in Show to a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C SS ‘Teardrop’. The Patrouille Suisse, the Swiss Air Force’s aerobatic team, flew over the lake that year on its last visit to the Engadin.

The Two Days

The Friday is the static concours. The cars stand on the ice with no parc fermé, and one may walk among them all day. By mid-morning the jury is at work on the bodywork, the interiors and the tyres, studded for the ice, and each entrant presents the car’s history to the judges. Best in Class and the special prizes are given in the afternoon. In 2026 a Best Sound award was added, judged with the engines running.

The Saturday is the dynamic day. The owners take their cars round a track laid out on the snow; in past editions each had two stints of twenty minutes. In the afternoon come Best in Show, the Spirit of St. Moritz, signed by the artist Rolf Sachs, and Hero Below Zero, chosen by the public.

For 2027 the organisers have gone back to the classes of the early years: Barchettas on the Lake, Concept Cars & One Offs, Racing Legends, Early Stars and Icons on Wheels. Access to the lake is to be further limited, to protect the ice.

Around the cars is The I.C.E. Village, with lunch in pavilions at the lakeside, a curling exhibition, a hot-air balloon and a skating show. In 2026 champagne and caviar were served by waiters on skates. The week reaches into the town, where The I.C.E. Art Show was held for the first time in 2026.

What to Know

It runs on a Friday and Saturday: in 2027, on 29 and 30 January. The Village opens at nine each morning, the concours begins at half past nine, and activities on the lake end at half past four. The organisers say the programme may change.

Tickets for 2027 went on sale in October 2026. The ticket page then listed the Friday preview from CHF 290, the Saturday from CHF 220 and both days from CHF 390. Children aged ten and under come free with an adult holding a ticket. The VIP ticket, from CHF 980, with the VIP grandstand, the VIP tent and a menu from Badrutt’s Palace, and an all-inclusive package with hotel, dinners and passenger laps on the lake, were already sold out. Numbers on the lake are limited, and the organisers advise booking early.

The Court wears country clothes for the cold: tweed, a heavy overcoat, gloves, and boots that grip on ice. The organisers set no dress code. The day is spent outdoors, below freezing.

From Zurich the train takes about three hours, the last stretch on the Rhaetian Railway, whose Albula and Bernina lines have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Engadin Airport at Samedan, 1,707 metres above sea level, takes private jets and air taxis. By road from the north, the route is the A13 to Thusis and then over the Julier Pass. Badrutt’s Palace, an early supporter, is a main partner of the event.

The mistake is to come only for the Saturday. On the Friday the cars stand still, and one can look at them closely.

The Court

The I.C.E. is not the Court’s own. The Court arranges the visit on a member’s behalf: tickets for both days, rooms in St. Moritz, and the table in the evening.

How one becomes a member is set out under Admission.