There's a bigger one (24.000 m2/sqm) in the south of Madrid and OK, it's not the dessert but it's not Saudi Arabia but it's common to have more than 45ºC in the summer.




www.parquedenievemadrid.es (Spanish)




It's attached to a huge mall (1.400.000 m2/sqm) called Madrid Xanadú by The Mills Corporation.




www.madridxanadu.com (Spanish)

It would be more interesting to find out how efficient the cooling systems, insulation, and recycling (meltwater, water vapor, trash, etc) for the place is. To keep something like a ski area functioning in Dubai is either going to be very efficient or very wasteful. I would like to think they went for efficient, and if so, I suspect there is a lot of great technology, tips, and tricks that could be applied to some very inefficient systems.

Would your opinion differ if the ski area was powered by wind and solar power? If the water used to make the snow was reclaimed from grey water? And what if they used the best sustainably sourced insulation (I'd create a giant vacuum bottle from recycled metal)?

So, cut these guys some slack - at first blush it may seem pretty nasty, but how did they do it? 104°F in September? Either it's very efficient, or it has its own nuke to power it...

They should at least look into investing in equipment to harness the plentiful solar energy they have to generate the electricity needed.

I wonder, though...

How much energy and resources are used to transport the average person to a ski area for a vacation? You've got a plane ride, rental car, the lodging, etc.

It'd be interesting to see the actual energy consumption figures for the place and divide it by the number of visitors. I'm not saying it's not wasteful, but it might not be so bad compared to its alternative (eg, how far is the nearest natural ski area from Dubai, do they make snow there as well, etc).

Of course, then there's the whole question of the environmental impact of creating a ski area out of mountains, as well as developing resorts in those kinds of areas in the first place -- which includes all sorts of logging, building roads and structures, and all kinds of possible impacts like erosion, lowered watered quality, etc.

Here's some folks raising some of those points, as well as grading the ongoing impact of operations at ski areas:
http://www.skiareacitizens.com/criteria.html

I think we often leap to conclusions on things because they're "unnatural", kind of forgetting what the alternative is to what's being examined.

Yes, Chris, I would be less devastated if there was a net environmental loss. Would love for that to be the case. Do admire your glass-half-full take on this news. That's normally my approach too, I'm just taking time out to have a little whinge :-). And Joseph, your wish for a life cycle analysis (LCA) comparing energy use comparing mall to open air skiing is equally valid. What I did not report is that a miniscule percentage of the local citizens have ever seen snow, much less know how to ski or board, so not only is an artificial environment being created, but artificial demand for a service will also need to drummed up to justify the edifice, as well. A similar venue was reportedly built, then later demolished in Japan, due to lack of patronage. That's my greater concern, the vast expenditure of energy on a facility that (on the surface, at least) is not addressing a real need.

beyond the nauciating energy cosumption and costs required to create and keep snow from melting in a desert climate, an overlooked value in skiing is "going to the mountains." It's like trying to say that building an indoor pool is the same as going to the beach.

it's almost a form of isolationism. Dubai is trying to recreate things found in the world that are missing from their country.

Chris there is a lot of money in Dubai, limited areas for play and limited natural envrt, a very young population and a big focus on displaying and enjoying your wealth... they're not very sustainable-conscious so you can bet yr booties it's using lots of old-fashioned dead-dinosaur power.

Q: How does it stay cold in Ski Dubai?

A: Our facility is specially designed as a massive cold box. The walls have numerous levels of insulation and the roof is 5 metres higher than the ceiling providing very efficient insulation. This makes Ski Dubai one of the best refrigerators in the world! We have 23 blast coolers (air conditioner type machines) that chill the air and maintain a temperature of -1c during operating hours. There are also kilometres of glycol tubing running through the floor (similar to the back of your refrigerator) that chills the snow keeping the base of the snow solid and 30 tons of fresh snow is made daily to cover the base.

http://www.skidubai.ae/

Why did this thread end up being a thread about waste.. gosh! go to greenpeace and discuss there! lets discuss how fun this is instead, especially for us who live in dubai. And i have actually been inside it, even tho its not open!

it SEEMS that ski dubai has tried to save as much power as possible by insulating properly. how well this insulation was done by the slave-like laborers from the indian subcontinent is anyones guess. but knowing from my own experience from the gulf, these guys are paid shit wages and the result of their work is therefore usually also shit. (pardon my french).

as far as solar power goes, apart from a few solar powered parking meter boxes in dubai, i havent seen one single building or house with solar panels in dubai or elsewhere in the gulf and middle east countries. now that is just plain STUPID. the neighbouring emirate of sharjah (right next to dubai) is having trouble generating enough power for all the new developments, which is no wonder, since people don't insulate buildings here properly or at all. and about two months ago, dubai had a massive blackout.

the warning signs are all over the place but as usual, nobody as taking any action.