 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm off to Dubai on Thursday night for business, but I have a little spare time and thoughts might heck out Ski Dubai.
Has anyone been there and is it worth a trip there?
Cheers
Sid
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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'Like'
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Aaaahhh, I'm in Dubai for business at the start of next week and was thinking of popping along. I leave Dubai Thursday morning though, otherwise it would have been funny to see another snowhead there.
I don't yet know which night I'll make it down, but I'll pop back here with a quick report when I do, if it's of any use.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've been a few times but not for a couple of years. It's worth doing just for the craic of saying you've been there and it's much cheaper than the UK. The concept of a 4 man chair in a shopping mall is cool although it's bloody slow; the poma is quicker.
The top half is much wider than most UK Snowdomes so you've got a bit of technique space before it splits into the Blue half and the 'Black' half. I have doubts about its proclaimed 400m length but it's certainly longer than any dome in the UK - it might be 400m from the top to the bottom of the teaching/kids area but you can't ski that last 50m! Take your own boots if you can as the rental equipment is all intermediate grade although they used to have some 'better' grade skis for an extra 50dhs (mostly twin tips for the pseudo park rats). Watch out for Arabs straightlining it from top to bottom.
My main advice is to take some good cold weather clothing with you. Good fleece, gloves, hat and thermals. They supply trousers and jacket in the entry price but neither are insulated so you need something warm underneath. The change from 40c outside to -2c inside and that slow chairlift is a killer if you're not wrapped up!
When you finish go to the Après bar which overlooks it. Come out of Ski Dubai, straight up the escalator to the 2nd floor of the mall. Walk on the left past the Butcher Shop restaurant in the food court and the bar entrance is round the corner on your left. If you're anywhere near the Midlands bring me some of the Butcher Shop's tenderloin steaks; they're better than anything I've ever had in the UK!
Enjoy 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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kosciosco, yes, I've been there. Much bigger/better than MK, which is the only UK one I've been to. Utterly barmy concept, but it's got to be done!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I went there a few years ago, definitely worth the trip IMO.
Was weird going from 45C outside, to 20C inside the shopping centre, to -2C in the snow dome.
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We went a couple of years ago, and I agree it's worth a trip if you're there with time to spare. Best dome I've been to, liked the chairlift and the little bar on the slope and we seemed to have the place to ourselves.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Ok, a thread I can probably help with....I live 10 minutes away from ski dubai, and have spent a lot of my learning time there, although haven't been for a few months.
Ok, firstly, do NOT go on Thursday night. It will be full of aforementioned straightliners, and chairlift riders, which means the chairlift is unusable speed wise. It will also be busy, and the bottom is a bottle neck, plus I think the Thursday you are talking about is freestyle night.
Right, so Friday early doors it is then. DO NOT take the metro, its closed, and a hike from platform to slope anyway. Taxi's are stupid cheap so just hail one from the hotel (ask for a normal cab not a limo) and get them to drop you as near to the kempinksi as possible, and then walk through the hotel. Reason being, the access that used to be that end has been blocked by a cheesecake factory. Check opening times, as I heard it was 9am on Friday, which will give you 2hrs of peace and quiet on the slopes.
The price is Aed200 (about GBP32) for 2 hrs, but if you have your own gear, you get a 10% discount. A locker can be rented for Aed20 of which you get Aed10 back as a card deposit from the machine afterwards.
Take your own boots and gloves as a minimum. There is no wind in there obviously so the -2 isnt as bad as it would be on the alps, but its still cold! Taking gloves saves you buying them as they dont have rental gloves!
The slope is indeed 400m, but the last 50m is ski school stuff. The 'Black' is about 30m long, so dont get excited, but its good to have 2 routes from the top for a bit of a change, but if you have ever skied in the mountains, you will be bored after an hour. I use it purely to work on my (bad) technique ;p
The drag lift will only be operational at busy times, but with the chair quiet its pretty quick anyway.
As someone above said, go to Apres afterwards. You have to take the elevator directly outside skidubai exit. Once up walk onwards to the left of the food court and round the corner. Imagine that its on the second floor far left when you are skiing, and you should be able to work out where it is. Beer will cost you about 6 quid, and pizza about 13. I like the fondue too, but not sure how 'authentic' you will find it. Nowhere else worthwhile in the mall serves any alcohol.
Sidenote: currently a sale in ski dubai's shop, so you could pick up a potential bargain - ie my burton custom wide was 70% off.
HTH, and have a great time!
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Own boots? That could be a problem, I'm flying in on Friday morning and back out on Sunday night so the plan was just hand luggage and there is no way I can fit everything I need plus boots in hand luggage. A colleague is sticking stuff in the hold so maybe ill stick my boots in her case.
Is Friday afternoon ok? I'm not likely to get there until later in the day
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Friday afternoon will be hit and miss, around lunch time you MAY be ok 
The drag lift will definately be going, but it will be busy with muppets out for a tour on the lift, so the boot/clothing area and check in will be mobbed - more than you can imagine!
Its worth taking boots, even if just to save the queues. Not to mention they are your own comfy boots! Do what you can to bring them.
As said Saturday morning will be much more enjoyable an experience. I dont go anywhere near any of the malls after 11am on a weekend (Fri/Sat).
Bear in mind if you are flying in with Emirates, your hold luggage will almost certainly make it to the carousel before you do. Its not term5 Heathrow!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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bug, someone said Cheesecake Factory, now I fancy a shake and some dessert
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You know it makes sense.
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Did you know the AVERAGE calories in the Cheesecake Factory dishes is 2500!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks for the tips, we land at 7.40, so it's straight to the hotel, dump our stuff and then straight to the ski slope. Should be able to get there for 10am.
As much as I would love to take my own boots I don't fancy carrying them around all day afterwards, do its just for two hours I'll put up with hire boots, besides it's not like I'm going for any other reason than it'll be fun to do so!
Thanks for the tips
Sid
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Poster: A snowHead
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I popped along tonight, so a few thoughts from me...
It's not a bad way to spend a couple of spare hours, and fun to say I've done it, but it's obviously not on a par with the mountains. I started on the chair, but got fed up with how slow it was, so moved on to the drag, with no queue for it most of the time (the place was pretty quiet). I also started on the blue, but quickly moved over to check out the black, which is very tame and short - I stuck to this most of the evening. Using the drag lift and skiing down the black route (not hanging about, but not pushing it) I timed it about 4.5mins for a lap - no queues though to factor in.
A note on the drag - it's got a couple of steeper sections that anyone nervous about drags would not appreciate. I only saw one person actually fall on it though.
I brought my own gear over from Geneva as I had loads of luggage space spare (only here for 3 days) - but my most lightweight layers. It was nice to have my own boots. No problem with their skis, perfectly adequate, but nothing special. No hat needed - especially given how hot it is outside at the moment, a couple of hours to cool down was lovely!
| dennisp wrote: |
The price is Aed200 (about GBP32) for 2 hrs, but if you have your own gear, you get a 10% discount. A locker can be rented for Aed20 of which you get Aed10 back as a card deposit from the machine afterwards. |
It might have changed a bit - I paid 190 instead of 200 as I had my own gear (but not skis), 20 AED for the locker, and a separate 20AED for the key card, which was refunded at the end.
| dennisp wrote: |
| if you have ever skied in the mountains, you will be bored after an hour. I use it purely to work on my (bad) technique ;p |
+1 Great for a bit of practice, too short for anything else after the first hour.
| Raceplate wrote: |
| Watch out for Arabs straightlining it from top to bottom. |
OMG this! So true! The really scary thing is they seem to think it qualifies as skiing. In two hours I saw one other decent skier doing controlled parallel turns and two beginners on separate private lessons at least trying to turn (and some park rats hopped over for a quick bash who did some lovely carving), everyone else was straightlining. Most didn't have poles - the one who did used them at the very top to get speedy quickly, then immediately went into a straightline snowplough to slow down! I saw one guy trying to turn using a very skidded clumsy snowplough as he was straightlining for a barrier... The pisteurs seemed agog at my skiing in comparison - it's the only time I've felt competent  And straightlining it isn't impressive, it's not that steep, and very groomed, no bumps!
And all the straightliners seemed to have short skis or snowblades. All rentals. I've no idea why - I was given normal sized skis no problem.
As for the Apres bar - it seemed nice, do go if you're a guy. If however you are a blond girl by yourself, skip it... I walked in and felt very uncomfortable, and left pretty quickly - and I'm not normally the sensitive type. I did though head back to a bar in my hotel instead for dinner and drink, and then got chatted up in there 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
| most blondes on their own in a Dubai bar are Russian hookers!! |
or Georgian or Armenian. The Chinese 'working girls' would love to be blonde - but just look stupid if they take to the peroxide.
fixx, good report - glad you thought it was worthwhile. When I used to go early on Fridays there were never, ever, straightliners on shorties. As I said, the locals are not early risers.
kosciosco, enjoy and please report back. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Dubaian wrote: |
| Quote: |
| most blondes on their own in a Dubai bar are Russian hookers!! |
or Georgian or Armenian. The Chinese 'working girls' would love to be blonde - but just look stupid if they take to the peroxide.
fixx, good report - glad you thought it was worthwhile. When I used to go early on Fridays there were never, ever, straightliners on shorties. As I said, the locals are not early risers.
kosciosco, enjoy and please report back. |
wow, you can tell you have left Dubai! I would never type that as big brother is no doubt watching ;p
Sorry also, yes, being a SWF in a bar here will get you chatted up pretty quick, mostly as guys are generally looking for lets say 'someone very friendly'.
Which hotel did you stay in? It may have appeared you were of the high class kind! Of course thats NOT saying you look like one  but its a given in quite a lot of hotels here, even some very well known 5 star establishments.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Would it be a good idea to visit Ski Dubai during Ramadan? Am thinking that the place might be empty up until Iftar - ?
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I went yesterday funnily enough. It was DEADSVILLE! lol I did go early doors though, so if you get in at 10am you wont see more than a few people during the week until noon. Weekends will always be busy so not worth it imo. At noon it will get busier with kids and lessons all week and weekends itll be earlier.
Beware however, that the chair is down for renovations, so its the button lift only, which for new skiers or boarders is a nightmare. Being a boarder I have a fairly sore left plum today thanks to the button lift 
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dennisp, thank you Sir. Might give it a try on Sunday, if a strained hamstring improves.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I went during Ramadan during the day a couple of years ago, it was pretty much deserted. Maybe 10 or less people skiing.
The bar/restaurant on the piste was closed though.
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Yes, along with the food court etc in the mall, plus they will frown on you publicly drinking on the slope if you take your own (water or otherwise!).
There are however two vending machines by the changing rooms and picture collection booth. Aed5 will get you a can of soda or a bottle of water, which you can then drink in the changing cubicle 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No report from kosciosco, wonder if he made it to the slope?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Quote: |
| The bar/restaurant on the piste was closed |
It's never been a licensed bar - more of a mini coffee/hot chocolate shop with a terrace. Plus toilets which can be handy. Easier to get to than those in the main Ski Dubai area.
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You know it makes sense.
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BUMP - new 'attractions' - a flock of penguins !!!! Really - I'm not making this up. And some sort of zipline. Anybody tried it?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Mad isn't it!
I'm going to pop over there next week and have a gander.
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Poster: A snowHead
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why didnt they put windows in it, you could be anywhere (any fridge that is)...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This thread was an interesting read. Thank you.
We are off to Dubai in October so will definitely be trying the local fridge out.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| AsterixTG wrote: |
Mad isn't it!
I'm going to pop over there next week and have a gander. |
No it's definitely Penguins.......SORRY!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Battlezone, I went last November - the clothing was padded and I think I just wore a t-shirt and sweatshirt which was sufficient. Socks were provided which were a longer variety of the ones provided on airlines. What I did take were my own gloves, hat and buff as you have to buy these. The chairlift is very slow to cater for non-skiers experiencing the centre. I found it better to use the drag lift. I went in the day and there were only a couple of other skiers on the slope.
I hadn't realised there were penguins until we'd done a few runs!
A bit surreal but I loved it as it meant I could have a little ski with my son who lives there. My OH doesn't ski but he was quite happy to look around the gadget shops in the mall and watch the penguins from the viewing areas.
Enjoy.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I'm flying out to Dubai tomorrow for a few nights and had a trip to the slopes on my to-do list. Should provide a nice contrast to the high 30 degree heat outside.
Nick
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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n1ckster, enjoy.
All - there are sports goods shops alongside the entrance to Ski Dubai that will happily (for silly prices.... ) sell you gloves, hat etc if you don't take yours with you.
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FAQ
