Trojena and the Lost Winter Games: NEOM’s Mountain Resort Dream Meets Reality

Of all the audacious propositions embedded in NEOM’s original vision, Trojena may have been the most improbable. A mountain resort in the Tabuk region of northwestern Saudi Arabia, designed to offer year-round outdoor skiing in a desert kingdom where summer temperatures routinely exceed 45 degrees Celsius. A venue ambitious enough to bid for — and win — the right to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. A concept that asked the world to believe that Saudi Arabia, a nation defined in the global imagination by sand and heat, could become a destination for winter sports.

By 2026, that proposition has collided with the same forces of financial pragmatism and engineering reality that have reshaped the broader NEOM project. Kazakhstan has replaced NEOM as the host of the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The Trojena development, while not formally cancelled, has been caught in the strategic review that has suspended construction across the NEOM site. The dream of hosting winter sports in the Arabian desert has not died, but it has been indefinitely deferred.

This is the story of how the most improbable element of the most ambitious megaproject in history confronted the limits of what money, ambition, and engineering can achieve.

The Trojena Concept

Trojena was announced as a key component of NEOM’s broader vision — a year-round mountain destination that would offer outdoor skiing, adventure sports, wellness retreats, and luxury hospitality in the mountains of the Tabuk region. The site, located at elevations above 2,400 meters in the Sarawat Mountains, benefits from cooler temperatures than the coastal lowlands of NEOM, with winter temperatures that occasionally drop below freezing.

The development was conceived as a mixed-use mountain resort combining several distinct zones. The outdoor skiing facilities were the headline attraction, with slopes planned to offer genuine snow skiing during the winter months — using a combination of natural snowfall (which does occur occasionally at these elevations) and extensive snowmaking infrastructure. An outdoor ski lake and adventure sports facilities would provide warm-season activities. Luxury hotels, residences, retail, and dining establishments would serve year-round visitors.

The architectural vision for Trojena was dramatic. Renderings showed structures carved into and emerging from mountain terrain, with mirrored surfaces reflecting the surrounding landscape. The overall aesthetic was futuristic-mountain — a blend of Alpine resort conventions with the technological optimism that characterized all of NEOM’s promotional material.

The resort was positioned to serve multiple markets: Saudi and Gulf residents seeking relief from summer heat, international tourists attracted by the novelty of skiing in Arabia, adventure sports enthusiasts, wellness travelers, and attendees of events and competitions hosted at the resort’s facilities. The target was to establish Trojena as a destination brand comparable to established mountain resorts in the Alps, Rockies, or Japan.

The Asian Winter Games Bid

In October 2022, the Olympic Council of Asia awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games to NEOM’s Trojena resort. The decision was remarkable on multiple levels. It represented the first time that a Middle Eastern nation had been selected to host winter sports at this level. It was a statement of confidence by the OCA in Saudi Arabia’s ability to deliver the required facilities within the seven-year timeframe before the games. And it was, for NEOM’s promoters, a powerful validation of the project’s credibility — an international sports body had deemed the venue viable.

The bid’s success owed much to Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in international sports governance, backed by the kingdom’s willingness to invest in hosting rights and its broader strategy of using sporting events to enhance its international reputation and domestic entertainment options. The kingdom had successfully bid for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and numerous other international sporting events. The Asian Winter Games bid was part of this pattern, though it pushed significantly further into uncharted territory than other hosting wins.

The games were to include a full program of winter sports: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, ice skating, ice hockey, curling, and other disciplines. The facilities required for these events — including multiple ski slopes of varying difficulty, a cross-country course, skating rinks, an ice hockey arena, and associated infrastructure — represented a massive construction undertaking even by the standards of established winter sports venues.

The Engineering Reality

The engineering challenges of creating a winter sports venue in the Saudi Arabian mountains were formidable, and they went beyond the obvious question of whether it was hot enough for snow.

Snowmaking at the scale required for competitive skiing is an energy-intensive and water-intensive process. Even in established ski resorts in the Alps or Rockies, snowmaking has become essential as natural snowfall becomes less reliable due to climate change. At Trojena, snowmaking would have been the primary rather than supplementary source of ski-quality snow, requiring capacity that exceeded most existing installations.

The water requirements for snowmaking are substantial. Converting water to snow at the volumes needed to cover multiple ski slopes to competition depth requires millions of liters per season. In the arid environment of Tabuk, where water resources are already limited and desalination infrastructure is distant, sourcing this water presented a significant challenge. Desalinated water would need to be piped to an elevation of over 2,400 meters, requiring pumping infrastructure with enormous energy requirements.

The energy demand for Trojena’s snow production, climate control, and general operations would have been extraordinary. Snowmaking machines, refrigeration systems for maintaining snow quality, air conditioning for indoor facilities, water pumping, and general operations would collectively require power generation capacity of substantial scale. While NEOM’s broader renewable energy plans could theoretically have provided this power, the specific energy demand of a mountain winter sports venue in a desert climate pushed the energy requirements well beyond what comparable Alpine facilities consume.

Temperature management was another fundamental challenge. While the Trojena site’s elevation brings cooler temperatures than sea level, winter temperatures in the area hover around the freezing point rather than consistently below it. Snow quality requires sustained below-freezing temperatures, and the diurnal temperature range at the site means that snow deposited overnight can begin deteriorating during afternoon warming. Maintaining ski-quality snow cover across multiple slopes through a competition season would require continuous snowmaking and grooming operations.

The construction logistics of building at the Trojena site were also challenging. The mountain location is remote from established construction infrastructure, with access roads that would need to be built or significantly upgraded. The terrain, while scenic, is difficult for heavy construction equipment. Material supply chains to a mountain site in northwestern Saudi Arabia would be longer and more complex than for construction in the coastal or urban environments where most Saudi development occurs.

The Loss of the Games

As the broader NEOM strategic review unfolded through late 2025 and into 2026, the implications for Trojena and the Asian Winter Games became increasingly clear. The suspension of construction across the NEOM site meant that the facilities required for the 2029 games could not be completed on the required timeline. The Asian Winter Games have a fixed date that cannot be adjusted to accommodate construction delays.

Kazakhstan was ultimately selected as the replacement host for the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The decision was characterized diplomatically as a mutual agreement, but the underlying reality was straightforward: Saudi Arabia could not guarantee delivery of the required facilities by 2029, and the OCA could not accept the risk of a host venue that might not be ready.

The loss of the games was a significant blow to Saudi Arabia’s international sports prestige. The kingdom’s strategy of using major sporting event hosting to enhance its global reputation depends on the credibility of its commitments. Securing hosting rights and then being unable to deliver undermines this credibility in ways that affect future bids and partnerships. While the kingdom’s hosting portfolio remains impressive — Expo 2030, World Cup 2034, Formula 1, Esports World Cup — the loss of the Winter Games was a public acknowledgment that not every commitment could be met.

The domestic impact was also notable. The Winter Games had been promoted as a milestone that would demonstrate Saudi Arabia’s ability to achieve things that the rest of the world considered impossible. The loss of the games replaced that narrative of unlimited capability with one of recalibration and constraint.

The Climate Paradox

The Trojena project embodies a paradox that extends beyond Saudi Arabia. The concept of building a ski resort in one of the world’s hottest countries, at a time when climate change is threatening the viability of skiing in its traditional strongholds, raises fundamental questions about sustainability, resource allocation, and the limits of engineering.

Ski resorts across the Alps, the Rockies, and other traditional skiing regions are facing an existential threat from rising temperatures. Lower-elevation resorts are losing their snowpack. Higher-elevation resorts are investing heavily in snowmaking to compensate for declining natural snow. The skiing industry globally is grappling with the reality that its fundamental resource — reliable cold and snow — is becoming less reliable.

Against this backdrop, building a new ski resort in a location that never had reliable natural snow, that requires massive water and energy inputs to create and maintain snow, and that is located in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, raised legitimate questions about environmental responsibility. Critics argued that the project epitomized the kind of resource-intensive development that the global community should be moving away from.

Defenders of the project countered that Trojena’s renewable energy plans and the economic benefits of tourism diversification justified the resource investment. They pointed out that the project could demonstrate innovations in water-efficient snowmaking and renewable-powered climate control that could benefit ski resorts globally. And they argued that mountain tourism, even in unconventional locations, contributes to quality of life and economic diversification.

The debate was never resolved through operational experience, as the project did not advance far enough for its environmental claims to be tested. But the questions it raised about the appropriateness of energy-intensive recreation in water-scarce environments remain relevant to Saudi Arabia’s broader tourism development strategy.

What Remains of the Mountain Vision

While the competitive winter sports vision has been deferred, the underlying asset — NEOM’s mountainous terrain in the Tabuk region — retains value for other forms of development. Mountain tourism that does not depend on snow — hiking, climbing, camping, wellness retreats, and cultural experiences — could be viable at a fraction of the cost and environmental impact of a ski resort.

The elevation provides cooler temperatures that make the mountains attractive as a summer escape from the coastal and desert heat. Saudi Arabia already has domestic mountain tourism in areas like Abha and Taif, where cooler highland climates attract visitors from the sweltering lowlands. The NEOM mountains could serve a similar function on a grander scale, offering luxury accommodations and adventure experiences in a naturally comfortable climate.

Eco-tourism focused on the natural environment of the Tabuk mountains — the geology, flora, fauna, and night sky visibility — could provide a tourism product that works with the natural conditions rather than against them. The international trend toward nature-based tourism, wellness retreats, and outdoor adventure supports this approach, with growing demand from travelers who seek authentic natural experiences over engineered entertainment.

The NEOM strategic review may ultimately conclude that a more modest mountain development — focused on the natural appeal of the site rather than the engineering spectacle of desert skiing — represents a better use of the asset. Such a development would cost less, carry less environmental risk, and face less skepticism from potential visitors and international media.

Lessons from Trojena

The Trojena story offers lessons that resonate beyond Saudi Arabia’s borders.

First, the acquisition of international hosting rights for facilities that do not yet exist carries inherent risk. The seven-year timeline between winning the 2029 Asian Winter Games bid and the event date seemed generous, but it was not sufficient for a venue that required construction in a remote, challenging location as part of a megaproject that itself was subject to fundamental review. The lesson for future bids is that hosting commitments should be based on realistic assessments of delivery capability rather than aspirational project timelines.

Second, the gap between promotional vision and engineering reality is particularly wide for projects that attempt to engineer environments contrary to natural conditions. Creating snow in a desert, cold in the heat, water abundance in scarcity — these transformations are technically possible but economically and environmentally costly. Projects that work with natural conditions rather than against them tend to be more viable and more sustainable.

Third, the loss of the Winter Games demonstrates that the consequences of overcommitment are not merely financial. Reputation, credibility, and the trust of international partners are also at stake. Saudi Arabia’s hosting portfolio has been a powerful tool for reshaping international perceptions of the kingdom. The loss of a hosting commitment — even one as unusual as winter sports in the desert — introduces a note of caution that affects how future commitments are perceived.

Fourth, the Trojena experience illustrates the importance of sequencing. The Asian Winter Games bid was made when NEOM was at the peak of its promotional confidence, with funding seemingly unlimited and engineering challenges downplayed. Had the bid been made after the strategic review, when a more realistic assessment of the project’s trajectory was available, it might not have been pursued — or it might have been pursued only with clearer contingency planning.

The Broader NEOM Context

Trojena’s fate cannot be separated from the broader NEOM story. The mountain resort was one component of a megaproject that was, in total, the most ambitious construction undertaking ever attempted. When the broader project entered strategic review, every component — The Line, Oxagon, Sindalah, and Trojena — was affected.

The components that have survived the review are those with the most immediate commercial logic: the green hydrogen facility, which serves a growing global market; the data center initiative, which responds to explosive demand for AI computing capacity; and Sindalah island, which is the most advanced hospitality component. The components that have been deferred or suspended are those that depended on either unprecedented engineering or speculative demand — categories that describe Trojena precisely.

The strategic review’s outcome for Trojena will depend on the broader direction that NEOM takes. If NEOM evolves toward a more conventional development model — multiple distinct communities rather than a single linear city — then a mountain tourism component could fit within that model at a more modest scale. If NEOM is further scaled back or fundamentally reconceived, Trojena’s prospects diminish accordingly.

The Future of Saudi Mountain Tourism

The loss of the Asian Winter Games does not end Saudi Arabia’s interest in mountain tourism. The kingdom’s Vision 2030 tourism strategy encompasses a range of destination types — beach, cultural, urban, religious, and adventure — and mountain tourism remains a part of this portfolio.

The Aseer region in the southwest, with its established tourism in cities like Abha and the mountainous terrain of the Sarawat range, continues to develop as a mountain tourism destination. Investment in hospitality infrastructure, improved road access, and marketing of the region’s natural and cultural assets have increased visitation. The cooler climate, dramatic landscapes, and unique cultural heritage of the Aseer provide a mountain tourism product that does not require the engineering interventions of Trojena’s snow-based concept.

Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy of using natural assets — Red Sea coral reefs, historic sites like Diriyah and AlUla, mountain landscapes, desert experiences — provides multiple paths to tourism diversification that do not require fighting against natural conditions. The most successful tourism products are those that showcase unique natural and cultural assets in their authentic context, and Saudi Arabia has no shortage of these.

The Trojena story may ultimately be remembered as a cautionary tale about the limits of engineering ambition in the face of natural constraints. Or it may be remembered as a premature attempt at something that eventually becomes feasible as technology advances. What it demonstrates most clearly is that even unlimited financial resources cannot override the fundamental realities of climate, geography, and the speed at which complex infrastructure can be delivered. In that sense, Trojena’s story is NEOM’s story in miniature — ambition, overreach, and the slow, sometimes painful education that reality provides.