Ski Dubai

Man is a master at creating environments that suit his needs. He invented air conditioning to stop sweating. He created central heat to stop freezing. He created Wal-Mart to make the whole hunting-gathering thing a little easier.

These days man is taking his love for the extreme to the extremes. All over the country (nay, the world) people are building sports parks to emulate the outdoors. The mantra seems to be, if God wasn't cool enough to give us an ocean here in Kansas, well, by gum, we'll build one ourselves.

Just look at some of the crazy sh*t that has sprung up over the last few years. To wit: In Dubai in the Emirates, the oil-glutted region where they have so much money to spare that it just makes sense to build a ski area in the heart of one of the biggest deserts in the world, they have built, yes, a ski area.

Ski Dubai stands 25 stories high and has two 1,300 foot runs, a solid 20-inch base, a chairlift, and, get this, a blue-paneled ceiling (a la The Truman Show) to emulate a bright and sunny day. Unfortunately, this being the middle east, you are unlikely to see legions of ski bunnies carving turns and enjoying après-ski margaritas after a rough day a shushing down the slopes.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Skiing, Business