What makes the Cresta Club in St Moritz unique is not the racetrack , or the setting, but its members. I knew from the moment that I undertook this project, that a single photograph would fail if I didn't convey, not a sense of place, or the sport itself, but a sense of “Club”.
The Cresta Club, officially known as the St Moritz Tobogganing Club, has been in existence since 1887 and remains one of St Moritz’s most exclusive institutions - and there are quite a few. It has a very British stamp to it and there is a sense of being at an old boys reunion at Harrow, but it welcomes all nations and all characters. For what could be a rather stuffy golf club culture, it is defined by its lack of stuffiness. It is a Club where people have fun and refuse to grow up and surely that should always be applauded.
My dilemma was how to take a picture that was authentic, fun and told a story of its members. I needed the track and a rider, but I also needed the faces in the crowd. For safety reasons these subjects tend to be mutually exclusive.
The solution was for me to positioned just down the track from the start and roped in like a mountaineer so that I didn't travel down the course on my backside with my cameras. I knew already how treacherous it is as I slipped in my early morning reconnaissance and lost a tooth. The Cresta Run is 3/4s of a mile of downhill sheet ice; start falling down the tunnel and you have a long way to go until you stop.
The Club was entertained by my planned position and graciously roped me in. I doubt a camera had ever had this angle before - well certainly not with a rider as glamorous as Frida Aasen on the skeleton. The members behind her were doing what they do best - enjoying the day.
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