Over the last 30 years more and more real snow indoor ski centers have opened their doors across the globe. Although there are many narrations of what country/place or business was first, it is an established fact that Europe, Japan and Australia were the earliest locations where one could ski or snowboard year round.
Today, in September 2022, there are well over 100 facilities worldwide with every continent ( minus Antarctica) welcoming skiers and snowboarders close to home, advancing their on-slope existing skill set. As a result of geographical accessibility, often within an hour drive or large population centers the traditional model of who ski’s and snowboards is drastically disrupted. As it does not require extensive and expensive travel, the economic barrier of entry into the sport is nearly eliminated. This results in better skilled participants and thus less drop outs as the sport is enjoyable in a managed environment and skills are applicable, if the participant is able to venture onto the slopes of the larger outdoor resorts.
There is another clear effect of these facilities though, the cultivation of new winter sports demographics. This is not only apparent in countries with an existing ski culture, where you can see some diversification occur, yet skiing and snowboarding is still culturally associated with certain population groups. This historical aspect results in the process being slower, as new users get exposed to the sport through school activities etc. Where one can really this more rapid cultivation is in places where there was absolutely no wintersports culture and the sport was presented on a clean slate, without prejudice or historical narration.
Take the UAE, a place where diversity is engrained in every day life and there is an incredible desire to learn and do new things. When Ski Dubai opened in 2005, many of its guests had never seen snow, something that is still very much the case for millions of tourists that visit this facility. From the start everything at Ski Dubai was geared to offering up new experiences and telling the story of winter and the thrills of sliding down hill and the sport associated with snow. In the early days guests were attracted to the snowplay area where one can discover freezing temperatures and have a low risk entry into the world of snow, speed and excitement.
But as we continued to welcome guests to this facility, we could see a slow change happening. Driven by the desire to experience new things, we saw the younger guests that were visiting the snowplay area in the past on the slopes. We could see that the thrill of skiing and snowboarding was appeasing those that had experienced the cold and realized there was more to gain from this man-made mountain. We had the honor of one of the royal family members becoming a regular, riding his snowboard and inspiring Emirati teenagers to become skilled at this new sport. As we continued to add new challenges and opportunities to the facility, leveling up the repeatability, this group of boys grew rapidly and became a staple on most week nights and weekends.
Some five years after opening the in-crowd had grown and our freestyle events were of a size we could match or even surpass the outdoor ski resorts. The group of boys, a mix of local Emirati’s and expatriates had grown significantly and was now a group of boys & girls between the age of 14 and 25. We observed a transition of a majority Snowboarders to an immense number of the group getting in to Freestyle skiing. It had become a community, kids that were behaving just like all other groups of teenagers at the indoor snow resorts across the globe. The price of admission to the in-crowd was simply showing up enough and encouraging others to excel. A new wintersport culture was born, not based on historical groupings, ethnicity or even geographical basis.
In parallel to this freestyle community establishing itself, the Ski School at Ski Dubai had created a racing program for those that enjoyed a different type of competition. Passionately managed by some of the instructors, the slalom races became more and more popular. Local schools started to participate, thus exposing all 160 or so different nationalities in the UAE to the sport. Training sessions and races are attended by passionate parents like anywhere else in the world and the skill set has become race leading internationally ever since the program started. Here again we see an amazing mix of participants, based on wanting to try a new sport, realizing their talent and going for it. No underlaying cultural inclusion or exclusion to enter this fantastic sport. These kids are extremely talented and outski many of the international competitors as they have access to perfect snow conditions year round.
Witnessing the 16 year incredible transformation of who are the majority users of the Ski Dubai ski slopes, culminated into ratification of the United Arab Emirates as an associate member of the international ski federation (FIS), joining countries such as Austria, Switzerland and France in the advancement of wintersports. This membership opens the doors for athletes from the UAE to participate (and probably do very well) in international competitions sponsored by FIS. It is incredible to realize it only took 16 years to create a wintersport participation base large enough to get here. The support of the UAE government and Ski Dubai’s owner Majid Al Futtaim Group had a significant impact in this process, but it was the thrill of the sport, the team that delivered the experiences to the guest and those that created the best snow that inspired a whole new generation of passionate wintersport participants and establishing a ski culture that is not defined by ethnic, geographical or historical barriers of entry.
As an advocate of these facilities, I am certain that a diversification of winterports participation is not only possible but inherent, as long as we bring these mountains to the people and provide exposure to the sport to the millions of people that currently would never consider even trying to get on a pair of ski’s. It’s a matter of time, education and inclusion to grow the sport. Not all will be able to travel to the mountains due to economical restrictions and that’s fine. Not every surfer will be able to ride the waves in Hawaii, it is the experience, the healthy lifestyle, friendships and community that will keep us all coming back and wanting more.
There is simply no Business like Snowbusiness!
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