• last month
Skiing in the middle of the desert for the 2029 Asian Winter Games: sounds mind-boggling, but that's the challenge Saudi Arabia has set for itself. And it's part of an even bigger, "zero-carbon" project... This week in "The Big Picture," Lucas wanted to understand what's behind this crazy project and whether it can be nature-friendly.

This video was originally in French. With the journalist's consent, we used AI to translate and clone his voice and synchronize his lip movements. The translated version was checked by one of our journalists.
All information in this video was collected, verified, and sourced by our journalist Lucas.
Transcript
00:00Let's look at this Saudi desert landscape.
00:02In this 2019 satellite view, it appears completely empty.
00:06Next to it, a road seems to appear out of nowhere.
00:09Dozens of trucks use it.
00:11This picture was taken three years later, in 2023.
00:14This site marks the beginning of a massive project.
00:17By 2029, it's expected to look like this.
00:20The region's first outdoor ski experience.
00:23Enjoy the buzz of world-class entertainment.
00:26Hey, it's Lukas.
00:27In October 2022, Saudi Arabia is officially chosen
00:31to host the 2029 Winter Asian Games.
00:34These will be the first winter games in history
00:37to be held in the Arabian Peninsula.
00:39It's a sort of spin-off of the Winter Olympics,
00:41but for Asian countries.
00:43The announcement sparked criticisms and questions,
00:46especially from athletes.
00:47From an ecological point of view, it seems to be a disaster.
00:51I don't know enough about the project,
00:52I don't know enough about the subject,
00:54to really say that it's a disaster.
00:55For Saudi Arabia, it's part of a much, much bigger project.
00:59You'll see.
01:00To achieve this, the country is committing
01:02to carbon neutrality and nature conservation.
01:05In this episode of The Big Explanation,
01:07I wanted to understand how a winter sports competition
01:10can be held in the desert.
01:12Can it really be as eco-friendly as the project claims?
01:15Let me explain to you.
01:20When we talk about skiing in the Middle East,
01:22this may come to mind.
01:24This 13, 20-feet indoor slope is in Dubai,
01:27in the nearby United Arab Emirates, in a shopping mall.
01:30For the 2029 Winter Games,
01:32Saudi Arabia is planning a much bigger ski resort.
01:3522 miles of slopes, mostly outdoors.
01:38At the moment, it's difficult to really realize
01:42that there could be various Asian games in this area.
01:46Because snow is, of course, essential for Winter Games
01:49with dozens of skiing or snowboarding events.
01:54These photos were taken in Trojina,
01:56the future resort for Winter Games.
01:59Yes, it can snow in Saudi Arabia.
02:01The project's website states
02:03that Trojina experiences sub-30 winter temperatures
02:07and that Trojina has ideal conditions
02:09for a top-tier ski resort.
02:11This is actually film from a test that we've been doing
02:15up in the mountains for the last three years.
02:17So this is a skier skiing on the snow
02:19that we've made in Trojina on our test ski slope.
02:23Actually, it's not in the Arabian Desert,
02:25but in a mountainous area along the Red Sea
02:28at elevations ranging from 5,000 to 8,500 feet above sea level.
02:33But to make snow games,
02:35you need more than just a few snowflakes.
02:37I wondered if this weather was common or exceptional.
02:41Laura Soupe, a hydrology PhD student,
02:44analyzed satellite observation records
02:46from the past five years.
02:47We've never seen snow for more than three consecutive days
02:51over the last five years.
02:53So it was January 11, 2020.
02:55There was only about four centimeters of fresh snow.
02:58From 11 to 13, we already see that there is very little snow.
03:02Three days later, there's nothing left.
03:04To put it simply, to make snow,
03:06you actually need temperatures below zero,
03:08but you also need some rain.
03:10What we've seen over the last 30 years
03:12is that we have about one millimeter per year of snow falling,
03:18but in the form of water equivalents.
03:21In fresh snow, it corresponds to about one centimeter of snow
03:25accumulated over the year.
03:26You shouldn't expect these various geo-Asians
03:30to function with natural snow.
03:32Based on data collected by Laura Soupe over the past 30 years,
03:35Trojena has had an average of half an inch of snow per year.
03:39In France, a resort like the Alpe d'Huez
03:41gets an average of 13 feet of snow annually.
03:44Trojena's promoters are emphasizing multiple skiing solutions,
03:48which we'll discuss later.
03:49But before that, we're going to see that this station
03:52is actually part of a way bigger project.
03:57This project is Neom,
03:58a massive city that the Saudi government wants to build.
04:01This project is not for any investor or any traditional company.
04:05This project is only a place for dreamers
04:08who want to create something new in this world.
04:11At the core of this project, there's the line,
04:13a 655 feet wide, 105 mile long city building project.
04:18Here's the map.
04:20Each side would be 1640 feet high and covered in mirrors.
04:24Inside, the project does not include a road,
04:27but a high-speed train connecting the two ends in 20 minutes.
04:30The line will also accommodate many economic activities.
04:33Eventually, the city will be able to accommodate 9 million people.
04:37But the line is not the only component of Neom.
04:40Here's Oxagon, for example, a massive industrial port.
04:44It's fully automated, located along the Red Sea,
04:47where 13% of the world's container trade passes through.
05:05Alright, but what does that have to do with winter sports?
05:07Actually, Neom has a third pillar,
05:09alongside the line and Oxagon, Trojena.
05:11And Trojena is being presented
05:13as a hot new global destination for mountain tourism.
05:17Right here, in these barren mountains,
05:19is where the 22 miles of ski slopes need to be built.
05:22But also a massive artificial lake,
05:25over 2800 homes and cabins,
05:2712 luxury hotels,
05:2845 and 2000 square feet of shops and restaurants,
05:31and even a nature reserve.
05:33The site is set to open in 2026.
05:36The winter games are scheduled to occur there three years later.
05:39It's also Trojena's desire to promote this project
05:43through this completely crazy project
05:46of organizing winter games in northern Saudi Arabia.
05:49But is all of this truly compatible
05:51with preserving the environment, the climate, or even the water?
05:58This video shows some tests that were done in Trojena
06:00for skiing on artificial supports.
06:03But snow events are very much announced for the competition,
06:06and the project website announces three months of ski in the winter.
06:09To address this,
06:11Trojena relies on a mix of natural and artificial snow.
06:15More specifically, this article of Saudi media Al Arabiya
06:18explains that roughly 75% of slopes have artificial snow.
06:23This snow should be made in the most sustainable way possible
06:26with no chemical additives,
06:28according to Philippe Gullet, the director of the Trojena project.
06:31Winter games based on artificial snow are hardly a novelty.
06:35It was the case, for example, at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
06:40But in Saudi Arabia, some challenge the realism of these claims.
06:44Firstly, because cold weather is needed to create and maintain artificial snow.
06:48Once we have produced artificial snow,
06:51we have to know if it will last.
06:52The average altitude of the plot we looked at is 1,500 meters high,
06:56which corresponds to about the bottom of their station.
06:58What we have seen is that on average, we have less than one day per year
07:03where the average temperature during the day is less than 0 degrees.
07:07I also read that by 2050,
07:09Saudi Arabia will experience significantly higher temperatures due to climate change.
07:15Clark Williams, in charge of communication for NEOM,
07:18explains in this Euronews article that they need 26 degrees for snow.
07:23According to him, this would be possible three months of the year.
07:26To make artificial snow, you also need water and energy.
07:29Philippe Gullet has a plan to collect and recycle the meltwater
07:33that accumulates underneath the ski slopes.
07:36But where will the water come from?
07:38According to Philippe Gullet,
07:39water will be transported from desalination plants without waste.
07:4236 km of track is quite a lot of water.
07:46Saudi Arabia will rely on water desalination.
07:50It is well aware of this process.
07:52Seawater desalination can be fairly polluting.
07:55It depends on waste management and energy sources used during the process.
07:59In general, what are the effects that Trojana and NEOM can have on the environment?
08:06NEOM and Trojana are presented as zero-carbon and nature-friendly projects.
08:11In terms of energy production,
08:13NEOM focuses on deploying wind turbines and solar panels on a large scale.
08:17I've found several studies that estimate it's possible
08:20to power a city of this size with renewable energy.
08:24Other experts are more skeptical,
08:26particularly about deploying these energies so rapidly.
08:38Although Saudi Arabia advertises 100% low-carbon energy for this emblematic project,
08:42it is not yet a nationwide goal.
08:55Moreover, the NEOM website states that 100 million trees will be planted by 2030.
09:00An Indian study calculated how many trees NEOM would have to plant
09:04to reach carbon neutrality for one million residents.
09:07Essentially, for the CO2 emissions of the city's million inhabitants to be absorbed by trees.
09:12According to the study, a billion trees are needed.
09:17On top of that, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia
09:20questions the emission-free feasibility of a city made entirely of glass,
09:24steel and concrete in the middle of a desert.
09:27This remains to be determined.
09:28Moreover, by 2030, Trojana aims for 700,000 tourists per year.
09:33Flights are often the biggest contributors to carbon footprint.
09:36Now, if we focus on wild animals,
09:38one of the fears I've seen is specifically about the lion.
09:42This study found that its linear shape and reflective mirrors
09:46can be an obstacle for local wildlife.
09:48Additionally, several NGOs and researchers raised the question of human rights.
10:13So, why hold the Winter Games here?
10:17The Asian Olympic Council unanimously designated Saudi Arabia
10:21to host its Winter Games in 2029.
10:30For Saudi Arabia, NEOM, Trojana and the Winter Games
10:33align with the so-called 2030 vision.
10:35It's a national strategy led by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince,
10:40which aims to diversify the country's economy
10:42historically heavily reliant on hydrocarbon exploitation.
10:46In this context, Trojana, the Winter Games and sports in general,
10:49as we see with football, play an important role.
10:52A new generation that comes to power
10:54sees in sport an economic field to invest in,
10:58to fully invest in, compared to its society,
11:01which is made up of 65% of under-30s.
11:04From 2020, Saudi Arabia shows its desire to become the leader
11:08and one of the centers of global sport.
11:11And so, in this goal, it will invest in golf,
11:15but also in e-peace, football, as we have seen,
11:19but also in cricket.
11:21There is really a desire to build a global sports showcase
11:25in order to become attractive to the eyes of the world.
11:28The Kingdom really supports its citizens,
11:31takes care of its youth,
11:35and works according to the vision of its citizens.
11:40I don't want to call it development,
11:44we can call it the building of the Winter Games culture in Saudi Arabia.
11:48It is new to us as Saudis.
11:50It will open the door.
11:52To make NEOM possible, the Kingdom has already announced
11:55a public investment of 500 billion US dollars.
11:58And the country is also calling on foreign investors.
12:01The investments made by Trojana
12:03are long-term investments.
12:05It is really part of this project,
12:07of this desire to create a place for winter sports in Saudi Arabia
12:11in order to create the attractiveness of this NEOM project.
12:15But behind this, it is always the question of whether it is sustainable,
12:18whether it is feasible.
12:20At the moment, we don't know,
12:22because it is based mainly on technologies
12:24that are not yet able to be put into service.
12:29We have the Asian Winter Games.
12:31It is an amazing thing for us to have
12:33as an event that is coming up in 2029.
12:35So we will be finished by then.
12:37We are making great progress,
12:39we are on track,
12:41and we will be ready to host the Games
12:43at the beginning of 2029.
12:47I hope you found this episode
12:49of the Big Explanation interesting.
12:51As usual, here is a bonus story
12:53told by Raphaël Le Magouaric.
12:55I met in Abu Dhabi
12:57people from the Ministry of Sport of Abu Dhabi
12:59who told me that at one point
13:01they wanted to host
13:03a stage of the Slalom World Cup
13:05in Abu Dhabi.
13:07These crazy visions
13:09are not new,
13:11but Saudi Arabia is creating
13:13a much crazier event
13:15within a complex,
13:17within a city,
13:19which represents Saudi Arabia of tomorrow.
13:21Don't forget to like the video
13:23to help it reach a wider audience.
13:25You can subscribe to Brut
13:28for more videos of the Big Explanation
13:30on animals or the environment.
13:32See you next Sunday for a new video.