Snow Park at Ski Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Thea Award-winning Ski Dubai indoor snow ski resort is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Working under Majid Al Futtaim Investments and in conjunction with Transmontagne, Thinkwell provided concept design, integrated construction documents, and fabrication supervision for the Snow Play Zone, in addition to in-field art direction for the entire Ski Dubai project.  Attached to the third largest mall in the world – the Mall of the Emirates – Ski Dubai is 25-story-high real indoor snow mountain with five slopes, ski lifts, a bunny run, a snowboarding half-pipe, a warming chalet, a rustic restaurant and more. An observation tower overlooks the resort to give Dubai’s residents and visitors a unique glimpse of a winter wonderland in the middle of the desert.

Bird's-eye rendering for the Master Planning process.


Thinkwell conceptualized the Snow Play Zone as two primary areas.  The first is a naturalistic “outdoor” snow-scape located within the massive Ski Dubai dome that includes: real snow pack at a depth of more than two feet (70 cm), falling snow, multiple toboggan slides, a choice between two sled runs for enthusiasts of different skill levels, an icy body slide enabling an activity jokingly referred to as “Kid Curling,” a snowman-making area, climbing towers linked by a suspension bridge that provide views of the ski runs, exploration caves, a challenging climbing wall, real ice falls, and the world’s first snowball shooting gallery. 

The other half or the attraction is The Ice Cave.  Enclosed beneath the ski ramp and kept at a much-chillier 19 ºF (-7º Celsius), this play area boasts an enormous Ice Dragon—a veritable funhouse of icy activities including: crawling caves, a maze of icy mirrors, special effects, a roller walk for sliding while standing still, frost walls to write on, a snow play zone designed especially for young guests and more.  If visitors get too cold, they can retreat to the warmth of the 3D theater or enjoy a hot beverage on the snow-side terrace.

Thinkwell’s Ice Dragon beckons guests into the caverns where artificial Aurora Borealis
lights create a shimmering effect on thousands of real ice crystals that hang from the
ceiling and cover the walls in a way no artificially created environment ever could.



A view from the top of the icy toboggan run at Ski Dubai, which looks over the Mall of the Emirates.



Ski Dubai’s Snow Play area beckons with toboggan runs, sledding hills, a suspension bridge over a lookout and hieroglyphic-filled caverns for exploring.