The Black Horse Ski Club

A recent trip allowed my brother and I to take advantage of and experience the world's largest and best indoor ski centre, and just in case you haven't guessed, we were in Dubai.

Dubai is a well-known modern travel destination and boasts some of the most impressive buildings in the world, including the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 star hotel, along with some of the best shopping. Yes the buildings are impressive, the shopping is excellent, and wishing we could stay in the Burj Al Arab is all good, but from the moment the trip was planned it was the chance to experience and ski the world's biggest indoor ski centre that was the main item on the holiday agenda.

It was only a weekend break so planning what we wanted to do and what we had time to do was critical. The skiing being the most important thing, somewhat unsurprisingly, made it to first place in the planning. So we were off, bright and early to get the best snow (just in case it got slushy in the afternoon....!) We got the taxi to the Mall of the Emirates (if you didn't know the ski centre is in a shopping mall.) When we arrived we walked through the shopping centre and it is the weirdest thing, you can stand in the mall and just inches away from you there's a guy wrapped up in thick layers and rubbing his hands trying to keep them warm, and you're standing there in shorts and a t-shirt!

Being experienced skiers we decided that it was probably going to be more than enough if we bought the minimum two hour pass, and as it's possible to top up your card inside it seemed the sensible option. Once you have your lift pass you go though, and there you're given your ski suit (socks if necessary, but take your own) to put over your shorts and t-shirt, then on to collecting your boots and skis. It is the weirdest feeling pulling on a ski suit when you left the blazing heat and sunshine only ten minutes previously!

So now you've got your ski suit and boots on and your skis in your hand it's off to the slope, brilliant! As you get to the entrance there are the racks of poles and you just grab your size and walk through the revolving door and into the freezing cold that is minus four degrees. Ok minus four's not really that cold, especially when you think of skiing on a mountain when it's often a lot colder than minus four with a wind chill factor thrown in as an added bonus. But when you go from the high thirties to minus four, believe us it's a fair jump and it feels cold! But no fear, get on the lift quick, get to the top and get skiing to warm yourself up!

This is where for the more competent skier the experience starts to go down hill. It's a chairlift, thankfully not a drag lift but for those of you that know Alpendorf, imagine the speed of the banana lift and then make it a chair.....got it?.....yea that's the speed. It's only 400 metres which makes it worse, for my brother and I it was a six minute round trip from the bottom back to the bottom and it took us 30 seconds to ski from the top of the chair to the bottom, I'm sure you can work out the rest of the maths.

It took a few runs to get used to the skis (which we're sure had glue on the bottom and were flexible enough to wrap around your car tyre, but they were rental and everyone was given the same so we lived with it) and once we were used to them it took only a few runs before we started counting down the time left on our passes! The main slope split in the middle, one side steeper (the black run) and the other more gentle (the red run) for the less experienced skiers. Where the slope split, there was your authentic mountain restaurant, you even had to walk downstairs in your ski boots to get to the toilet! I mean what would skiing be without out the struggle of walking down stairs in ski boots to relieve oneself? Where would the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment be?! It even served the perfect mountain top hot chocolate, the one with the massive dollop of whipped cream on top, perfect!

It may sound like the only part we enjoyed was the mountain restaurant but that's unfair. The experience of skiing is this place is unmissable, it's one of those things that has to be done. You walk from blistering heat onto snow and as you ski you can watch people on the other side of the glass at the bottom of the slope shopping in their shorts and t-shirts. Where else in the world is this possible? Although it's something that you have to do if you're ever in Dubai, for anybody that can do more than a snowplough turn two hours is enough. Not saying we didn't have fun because we did, we tried to turn the easier side of the slope into a jump, seeing how much we could make the front of our skies shake through a turn and of course we laughed at and mocked the snowboarders!

However, although for the more advanced skier two hours is enough, I couldn't think of a better place in the world (other than the Red-White-Red) for a beginner to learn. Not only is the temperature constant so you know everyday it'll be the same, unlike on the mountain where it can change dramatically throughout the day, they also have perfect facilities for a beginner, well apart from the fact that it's right next to the windows that look into the shopping mall where everyone can see you!

The beginner area is equipped with a small lift and a toboggan run to keep the youngsters interested, excited and warm while learning and then there is the main slope. Beginner run? Yep, the chairlift even has a halfway station at the Avalanche Caf‚ which filters onto the easy side of the main slope which from the half way station becomes easy enough for the beginner too good for the beginner area.

All in all it's something that has to be done when in Dubai and it gives you a taste of what's to come in the future, especially in Dubai where money isn't a issue. There are even rumours going around Dubai at this very moment that a bigger and better ski centre is being considered, big enough for a Winter Olympics bid......

The main ski slope from the bottom

The top of the main ski slope from the midway point

The cosy mountain restaurant, The Avalanche Cafe

Trying to do synchronised skiing!

Watching people shop while you ski