“The deserts and mountains of Saudi Arabia will soon be a playground for winter sports,” the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said in a statement about the decision to choose the Kingdom as the host of the games.
The Saudi bid was further “unanimously approved,” the statement added. Neom will be the first West Asian city to host the sure-to-be-popular event.
The games are slated to take place in an area of the city called Trojena, “where winter temperatures drop below 32 Fahrenheit (zero Celsius) and year-round temperatures are generally 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the region,” states the project’s website.
Trojena’s completion date is set for 2026, and the area will be home to year-round skiing, chalets, mansions, luxury hotels, and, most impressively, a man-made freshwater lake.
Trojena is one of 10 regions within Neom but is unfortunately located in an area that receives very little rainfall, a fact that may become problematic for the games.
Skiing will be possible in Neom year round. Zargon Design/iStock
This hasn’t stopped Saudi’s leadership from having high hopes for the area. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also serves as chair of Neom’s board, has said it “will redefine mountain tourism for the world by creating a place based on the principles of eco-tourism, highlighting our efforts to preserve nature and enhance the community’s quality of life.”
Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion megacity NEOM will host winter games in desert
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