Trojena – not just another condom company, but a mind-bendingly futuristic ski resort being built in the heart of Saudi Arabia. Just three years from projected completion, by 2026 we may be alighting from state-of-the-art ski lifts and tootling round 22 miles of slopes at the respectably alpine altitude of the 8,500 foot high Sarawat Mountains.
Headed up by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the ski area is part of a $500 billion mega-development from NEOM, which hit the headlines with its plans for a 100-mile long horizontal skyscraper known as The Line.
Despite its location only 30 miles from the Red Sea, this region is the recipient of occasional below-freezing level temperatures. The visionaries of the Gulf anticipate a three-month ski season and a sultan’s ransom in property add-ons: 42,000 square metres of shopping and restaurants, more than 3,500 hotel rooms and serviced apartments, a 3,000-seat mountainside amphitheater, and so much more. Think Lawrence of Arabia crossed with The Jetsons Go to Vail.
