Al Futtaim plans skiing slope in capital for adventure fest

The UAE capital will have its very own skiing slope by October this year. Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, which owns and operates Ski Dubai, will set up the slope forAdrenaline Sports Live festival. The organisers of the festival, UBMi UAE, in their official communiqué said this will be "another adrenaline-first for Abu Dhabi," and they are working Majid Al Futtaim Leisure to bring the first ski slope to the UAE capital in October this year. Adrenaline Sports Live is the UAE's first annual meeting point for the extreme, adventure and adrenaline sports communities and related companies. Adrenaline Sports Live 2009 will be an innovative action-packed family day out, where visitors can try out new sports, see the professionals demonstrate their skills, get advice from local sports clubs, buy sports equipment and clothing and book adventure holidays directly at the festival. Visitors to the adventure festival can try skiing and snow boarding and watch professionals take to the temporary skiing slope slope. Mike Mahoney, General Manager of Ski Dubai, the region's first indoor ski resort, is delighted with the idea of taking the slopes of Ski Dubai outside the facility. "This is the first time that we are taking our slopes to our Abu Dhabi visitors rather than they visiting us and we are very excited about it. The experience of snow in a desert is unique and we recognise that a lot of people in the UAE have never experienced snow. By taking our slopes beyond Dubai, we want the residents of the capital to have an unforgettable experience of snow and winter," he added. Matt Tarrant, Show Director of Adrenaline Sports Live, said: "As the region's first and only established festival for adrenaline, extreme and adventure sports and holidays, it is very important for us to continue to provide innovative, fresh and exciting experiences for visitors to the festival. The success of the festival depends entirely on the visitor experience. At this point, Abu Dhabi does not have an established indoor ski slope, so we are proud to work with Majid Al Futtaim Leisure to provide residents and visitors of Abu Dhabi another adrenaline first. This also allows us to provide a unique sponsorship opportunity for interested companies to advertise on the slope itself." Adrenaline Sports Live, presented by Rani, was launched in 2008 saw more than 19,000 visitors to the festival over three days. This year, the festival runs from October 8 to 10 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and is open to the general public. Free buses will run from major malls in Abu Dhabi to the festival and competitions onsite will give visitors to the show a chance to win. Barbican Turbo, the Ultimate Auto Fest is the region's meeting point for custom car and motorcycle enthusiasts, and will feature demonstrations by the European Drift Champions, a sound-off competition for the best-in-car entertainment system, the dyno-shootout for the car with the largest horsepower, and the Top 100 – an intensive competition to find the top 100 customised cars in the country. Companies, associations and agencies interested in finding out more about Adrenaline Sports Live festival, presented by Rani should contact the organisers, UBMi UAE. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the daily Emirates Business 24|7 newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .