In 2016 AdAstra Adventures teamed up with Women in Polo (WIP) and took 3 ladies teams out to Bad Gastein to compete in the inaugural Ladies Snow Polo Tournament. It was going to be everyone’s first experience of playing on snow so the excitement in the group was electric.
We were a group of eighteen, six players and all our supporters. As we drove up into the mountains the snow got deeper and deeper and our excitement grew. We arrived at the fabulous 5* Europaischer Hof hotel, dropped our bags off and then headed up to the field to try out the ponies and get our first experience of polo on snow.
The tournament ran over 3 days and there were 6 teams with ladies flying in from around the world to compete. Each team had 2 players and on average we were -2 – 0 goal teams. At first I wasn’t sure how 2 aside would work but it was amazing, every player had to work hard for their team meaning everyone felt like they had achieved something when they came off the field.
To watch was thrilling, as we watched the girls battle it out on the field I couldn’t have been prouder. Our teams did amazingly bringing in first, second and third place. This tournament however wasn’t about the winning, it was about new polo experiences while meeting other female players from around the world with the same passion.
Clare Mcnamara commented that she was ‘Hooked on Snow Polo’ which I think summed up the whole experience.