Word: skiing
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...mall comprises not just a still-to-be-completed five-star hotel, a branch of London's Harvey Nichols and every designer boutique you can think of but also its own ski slope. Alanoud has graciously invited me to go along with her and her friend while they shop, grab a coffee and ski. Skiing, of course, is not normally part of their daily ritual, but in Dubai you have to do things when they are new. And new is a relative term in a place where there's always a bigger mall being built, boasting even more outrageous tenants...
They have probably never seen her on skis either. We have come to ski, and Alanoud is determined, changing into ski pants and a jacket while Nof slips a long padded parka over her abaya. Nof needs no encouragement to try tobogganing and even has a go at skiing after Alanoud, who is proficient, demonstrates where to position poles and skis. We might be in the middle of the desert, but it feels as if we are in the Alps: chairlifts lead up to the black-diamond run, and it's cold enough to fear frostbite...
...après-ski plan includes an invitation to Burberry's store opening, where ceo Rose Marie Bravo surveys the crowd. "The consumer is so elegant here!" she says of the Dubai women outfitted in subtly customized abayas, designer handbags popped over their shoulder. "Aren't they gorgeous? They look stunning," Bravo continues. "They say, 'Well, you all wear uniforms in the Western world too,' and look at us," she says with a laugh, indicating how she and I are dressed. "They're right. We're in black as usual...
Without much oil under its sands, Dubai is no petro powerhouse. But you can't beat it for being the most colorful sheikdom in the Middle East--or the most ambitious. What other desert land can claim one of the world's largest indoor ski slopes, featuring fresh powder year round? While flying in on the stylish, state-owned Emirates Airlines, you might notice the artificial islands in the shape of a palm tree or the 56-story Burj al-Arab hotel, as tall as the Eiffel Tower, built like a billowing sail. Westerners are welcome, along with their vices...
...that through the Games, we can work to at least partially fulfill Coubertin’s goals. To be sure, it would require a radical shift in the way the Games are operated, thought of, and trained for. But imagine if instead of partying the night away after their ski runs, athletes gathered to discuss their cultures and values. Imagine if the Games became a venue for diplomats to meet, as well as for athletes to compete. Imagine if the Olympics linked the world together in the truest sense, instead of merely symbolically, with colored rings on ephemeral pieces...