Ski Dubai was first a dream of Majid al-Futtaim and with many longs days of hard work put in by Mr. al-Futtaim and over 1000 workers workings around the clock became a reality in December 2005. 

Ski Dubai stand 25-stories strong and can be seen from all over the city.  It gives the rapidly growing city of Dubai another high-end tourist destination.  Of course it is the Middle East's first indoor ski resort and the world's third largest of it kind.

Ski Dubai is nestled within Majid al-Futtaim's investor group's billion dollar Mall of the Emirates.  This brilliant idea of al-Futtaim will draw people to shop at the mall and hit the slopes all in the same day.

Ski Dubai's ski-slope has an overall length of 400 meters and will allow all levels of skiing experience to enjoy this miraculous resort.  The resort is truly state-of-the-art with the world's largest air-conditioner and even falling snowflakes. The resort will feature five different trails of varying gradients. The slope itself is not straight but with a 60-degree bend.

Phil Taylor, Ski Dubai's chief executive said: "This isn't just about skiing but an opportunity to introduce winter activities, and snow play to a lot of people that have never seen snow before in their lives.  We're really trying to introduce people to winter sports and fun in a way they have never had an opportunity to experience before in the region. Steep areas necessitated building sections of the slope in steps, compared to the majority of it being built on a smooth profile, because there's actually a risk of an avalanche if we weren't careful."

"It's quite amazing to be tackling these sorts of problems and challenges here in Dubai," said Taylor, no stranger to huge projects, including the London Eye observation wheel.

I know growing up in the United States we have snow often but I can remember when I was a child how the first time that soft snowflake landed on my nose how completely amazing that was; and for Mr. al-Futtaim to be able to bring that magical experience to the people of the Middle East is truly a gift.

 The resort will feature cafe where its guests can warm themselves up with a warm cup of hot-chocolate.  The area underneath the slope will be used for the locker rooms and an outdoor play area, with hills for sliding and tobogganing, as well as an ice cavern. There will also be a snowboard stunt park and 90-metre-long quarter-pipe.

"Dubai is growing rapidly which is really creating an opportunity for an attraction like this," said Taylor, adding that Ski Dubai will target an equal mix of residents and tourists, some five million of whom visited the bustling emirate in 2004.

"We're hoping that for people familiar with skiing it's a novelty factor to have been able to go skiing in the morning and sunbathing in the afternoon," he said.

"It's a great place to polish your skills if you're going on a winter holiday or planning one, or if you want to learn to ski, because we control the conditions and have a team of professional instructors, it's perfect for learners.

"We really have got this opportunity to be both a sports facility at one end of the scale and pure play and fun at the other," Taylor said.

Ski Dubai, covering an area of 22,500 square meters (242,000 square feet), or the equivalent of three football fields, will use 6,000 tons of real snow settling 50 centimeters thick. It will have a capacity of 1,500 people at any one time while the objective is to try and attract 500,000 visitors a year, Taylor said.

Thirty tons of fresh snow will be made every night to replenish the slope when the indoor temperature will be reduced from minus one Celsius (30 Fahrenheit) throughout the day to about minus seven. The slope will be visible from two levels of the mall and four floors of the adjoining Kempinski Hotel.

A professional team of instructors and staff will be on hand from countries including France, Lebanon, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United States.

"One of the things that we've really tried to put quite a lot of emphasis on is that... coming inside is an experience. Ski Dubai has got so much more to offer than just skiing," said Taylor. 

Many advertisers of our site are excellent companies to book your travel destination.  Check them out.

By: Darrick Wilkins

Senior Travel Analyst at

www.DubaiSkiTrip.com

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