The ski industry is a behemoth. There are 66 countries worldwide that get around 350 million skiers yearly. That’s pretty much the population of America hitting the slopes every single year worldwide. So, yeah, big business. It might not come as a surprise, then, that countries which traditionally don’t have access to glaciers, alpine peaks, and snow are a little jealous of all that white powder action.
The Mall Of Egypt recently opened its doors and they’ve gotten in on the skiing action with a massive indoor ski resort in the mall. The slopes offer 2,000 tons of fresh snow, a constant temperature of 28.5F (it’s 80F on average in Cairo), and 4 separate slopes to enjoy. The whole thing cost a paltry $66 million — which seems cheap for an indoor mountain lair.
This isn’t the first of its kind, there’s a similar structure in The Mall of the Emirates in Dubai as well. However, the ski resort is touting itself as the first indoor ski resort on the African continent where you can participate in “a variety of activities from extreme sports to beginner lessons to simply relaxing in a snow-filled environment with friends,” the mall’s website reports.
“This is the ultimate venue in Egypt,” the mall’s website boasts!
If skiing in an African mall isn’t your jam, you can already ski for reals in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, South Africa, and in extreme conditions in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and the DR of Congo. But you’ll probably not find Swiss-style chalets hawking mugs of pipping hot cocoa and sandwiches in all those other places.
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(Via Bloomberg)
