00:00Saudi Arabia wants to host the Asian Winter Games right in the middle of the desert.
00:05No more climbing frozen mountains in gear heavier than you are.
00:09No icy valleys, just camels, endless sand, and a sun that can fry an egg if you crack it on a metal plate.
00:18Let's explore one big and unexpected idea.
00:21Building a futuristic ski landmark in a place where snow is treated as a big deal.
00:30Desert countries have already tried similar things.
00:33Dubai built its own ski slope inside a shopping mall almost 20 years ago.
00:37You could buy sneakers, grab a snack, and then go skiing without ever stepping outside.
00:43It blew people's minds back then.
00:45But compared to the Project Trojina, it feels tiny.
00:49This is not an indoor side attraction.
00:52It's part of a roughly $500 billion plan to carve out a winter zone inside a desert region right in the middle of real mountains.
01:04Trojina sits in the northwest corner of Saudi Arabia, in a mountain area with sharp ridges and long, empty stretches of land between them.
01:12It is one part of a much bigger strategy called NEOM, a plan to build new cities and resorts across this region.
01:22This whole zone is part of a desert belt across the Arabian Peninsula, with towns far apart and long stretches where you mostly see rock, sand, and sky.
01:34The climate here is really harsh.
01:36Summer days go past 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and by noon, the heat hits you from above and below like you're being baked.
01:45Leaving anything metal in direct sunlight is a really bad idea.
01:50Winters bring some relief, especially in the higher peaks.
01:54Nights can get pretty chilly, and now and then, those peaks pick up a thin layer of snow.
01:59It looks nice, but it doesn't stick around.
02:02It melts in a day or two, before you can even take pictures, let alone think of skiing.
02:09Maybe you wonder, but why go through so much trouble just for a ski center?
02:14Well, here's the funny part.
02:17It's a lot more than just a ski center.
02:19The plan is to build an entire winter city, a place with ski runs, hotels, cable cars, housing zones, golf courses, and even a crystal-shaped tower planned to be roughly the same height as the Eiffel Tower.
02:35Trojina covers about 23 square miles, with about 18.6 miles of ski slopes threading across the mountains.
02:42The whole idea is to turn Trojina into a one-of-a-kind attraction that people put on their must-visit list.
02:50You ski in the morning, hike in the afternoon, and spend the day by a huge artificial lake.
02:56That lake is supposed to be the main attraction of the resort, held in place by three giant dams.
03:03Building something like that on desert rock is tough.
03:06The ground can shift and leak, so everything has to be sealed and reinforced before the lake can even exist.
03:14But even if they build the entire complex, there's still a detail they can't ignore.
03:20This place doesn't get enough natural snow for any of it to work, not even close.
03:26That's why the entire project has to rely on machines or some advanced technology to produce most of the snow.
03:33Snow machines help by blowing cold air into the air, where it turns into tiny ice bits that cover the slopes.
03:41It works, but the sun in this region warms the ground fast, so the snow can soften or melt unless they constantly top it up.
03:50The machines also need a lot of water.
03:53Since this area doesn't have natural lakes or rivers, Neom's plan is to pull in desalinated seawater from the Red Sea coast
04:01and push that freshwater through pipes and storage systems across all its zones, including mountain areas.
04:08That needs long pipes and strong pumps, plus a steady power supply so nothing shuts down when it gets hot.
04:15And even with all that, the air still has to be cool enough for snow to form properly.
04:22If it's too warm, the machines can spray all they want, but the snow won't stick.
04:28So engineers have to study the slopes and figure out which parts stay cooler and which parts heat up too fast.
04:34All of this takes a huge amount of electricity, and Trojina is supposed to get its power from Neom's renewable energy system,
04:43which includes solar, wind, and stored energy.
04:47Solar sounds perfect because this region gets sun almost every day.
04:51But there is a catch.
04:53Panels like light, not extreme heat.
04:56When they get too hot, they produce less power.
04:59And that could happen right when the snow machines need steady energy the most.
05:04So the same sun that makes this place perfect for solar power can also make the panels lazier at the worst possible moment.
05:12All of this shows the basic plan, but how to sink everything in unpredictable heat is making engineers work over time.
05:20And that challenge starts with the ground they're building on.
05:24Shifting soil or rock can delay progress or force redesigns.
05:28Then there's the problem of distance.
05:31The site is pretty far from major cities.
05:33So hauling materials to Trojina means dragging heavy equipment across miles of empty desert.
05:40Even with better roads, moving materials can still drag things down.
05:44A project of this size needs a huge workforce, special machinery, and advanced cooling systems,
05:51plus constant checks to keep everything running.
05:53Even with a massive budget, unexpected issues can pile up.
05:59So we have already seen slowdowns in other parts of Neom.
06:02So Trojina could face the same problems.
06:06None of this means the project cannot succeed.
06:09It only shows how complicated it is to build something this big in a place that is not naturally made for what they're trying to create.
06:17When you put all the pieces together, it becomes clear why Trojina may be one of the most ambitious proposals ever.
06:25But what about some other engineering wonders that didn't seem possible at first?
06:29The Three Gorges Dam in China is one of those ideas that makes you pause and gasp.
06:37It stretches more than 7,500 feet across the Yangtze River and stands taller than the Statue of Liberty.
06:44To make it work, engineers moved over a million people and flooded entire valleys.
06:49When it finally started running, it became the largest hydroelectric power source in the world, sending electricity to millions of homes and helping protect cities downstream from dangerous floods.
07:02Another example is the Hong Kong-Zuhai-Macao Bridge.
07:07It's one of the biggest sea crossings ever built and the longest sea bridge in the world, stretching almost 35 miles and linking Hong Kong, Zuhai, and Macau.
07:16To build it, engineers had to deal with deep water, heavy ship traffic, storms, and strong currents.
07:24They drove huge piles into the seabed, built artificial islands, and even added an underwater tunnel so large ships could pass through.
07:34The goal was to allow cars and buses to cross the sea in one trip instead of taking ferries.
07:40When Qatar hosted the World Cup, it had to solve a serious heat problem.
07:45The summer weather there can make it hard to even stand outside, let alone play soccer.
07:51To keep players and fans safe, engineers built a cooling system under the seats, inside the walls, and around the field that pushes cold air across the pitch and lowered the temperature in the whole stadium.
08:03Cooling such a huge open space is much harder than cooling a normal building.
08:07But they still succeeded in turning this giant hot bowl of air into something closer to an air-conditioned arena.
08:15All these accomplished grand plans show that we should not write off Trojina yet.
08:22It has a few big things working in its favor.
08:24The budget is massive.
08:26The authorities are fully behind it.
08:28And Neom is being built to support it with roads, energy, and workers.
08:33Whether they finish in time for the Winter Games is still a question.
08:36But if they do pull it off, Trojina could end up as one of the most famous tourist spots on the planet.
08:48That's it for today.
08:49So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:54Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
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