At the beginning of the month, the employees of St Petersburg’s top hotels braved freezing temperatures to participate in snowball fight.
Organized in a suburban winter resort, nine hotel teams participated in a snowball throwing competition, based on a simplified version of the Japanese game Yukigassen, a cross between "Capture the Flag" and a snowball fight. Dressed to resist temperatures dropping below -8ºC, the nine teams competed in three 3-minute matches, each armed with 250 snowballs.
With judges (and simplified rules adapted to beginners), announcements, snacks, music and support teams, out of the nine teams – representing the Angleterre Hotel Rocco Forte, Astoria Rocco Forte Hotel, Corinthia Nevsky Palace Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel, Helvetia Hotel, Marriott Courtyard Vasilivsky & Renaissance Hotel, Marriott Courtyard Pushkin, Orient Express Grand Hotel Europe, and W Hotel – the Astoria Rocco Forte, Four Seasons Hotel and Helvetia triumphed in this order, snowballing their rivals into submission.
The World Championships of this curious sport have been held recently in Japan, while the US National Championships took place in Alaska in February and the 18th edition of the European Championships are scheduled to be held in Kemijarvi (Finland) from 7-8 April. Such is the following of this sport – with official teams representing Japan, Finland, Norway, Sweden, USA, Canada, Australia (!), and Russia – snowballing has even been slated as a future Olympic sport. For now, at least, it certainly makes for a novel corporate incentive.
Yukigassen 2009
