^Computer rendering of Trojena’s planned ski village
Uhhhhhhh…. what?
Did you have a similar reaction when you first read the headline above? Saudi Arabia is hosting a *WINTER* games?! Like winter winter? Like with snow? Ice? Winter? In Saudi Arabia? The country known for being a gigantic desert?
Okay, enough of the rhetorical questions.
The answer is yes, The Olympic Council of Asia has voted to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Trojena, a winter sports and recreation sector of the planned Saudi mega-city called NEOM.
NEOM is essentially a multi-trillion-dollar investment by the Saudi government to improve their international relations and detract from their countless human rights violations.
^Computer rendering of Trojena
The Saudi Crown Prince is using the Public Investment Fund, which is basically a bottomless slush fund from oil money, to fund the city.
NEOM hasn’t actually opened anything yet, but the city’s lavish website is claiming it will be the world’s first “cognitive city” (whatever that means).
They claim the city will be “sustainable”, and buzzwords like “future” and “vision” are thrown around like a pigskin on a Sunday afternoon.
I don’t buy any of it, but that’s probably because I carry a healthy dose of skepticism about anything the Saudi government does post-9/11.
We don’t have to dive into that, but just Google ‘Saudi Arabia 9/11’ and you’ll understand what I mean.
Anyways, back to the ridiculous 2029 Asian Winter Games.
^Credit: Olympic Council of Asia
The Olympic Council of Asia voted unanimously, yes unanimously, to host their 2029 Winter Games in a sector of a city that isn’t built yet, and that barely gets any natural snowfall.
The games will include 47 events in total with 28 on snow and 19 on ice. So, where will these winter sports be held in a country that doesn’t really experience winter? I have no idea…
The information published on the NEOM website about the Trojena winter sports complex is very limited. It only states:
“In the daytime, the high-altitude ski village includes outdoor runs down the mountain and many other sports besides.”
Cool, so uh… how do they expect to host Olympic-level downhill ski races?
Most professional downhill races have vertical drops between 1,400 and 3,200 feet. I hate to be skeptical, but does Saudi Arabia really plan to have a world-class downhill course that meets that criteria in the desert?
Seems unlikely.
^Computer rendering of Trojena
What’s most likely is that the Saudi government is offering bucket loads of under-the-table payments to the voters at The Olympic Council of Asia to have the games hosted at Trojena.
Will they actually be able to deliver on their promises? I don’t think the OCA or the Saudi government really cares. They’re simply trying to garner more attention to their futuristic mega-city, and we’re playing right into their plan.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if Saudi Arabia can deliver on their promises, but I hope they fail miserably.