Saudi Arabia May Delay Hosting Asian Winter Games

Saudi Arabia is reportedly exploring alternative hosts for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, as mounting construction challenges threaten its ambitious plans for the Trojena ski resort, part of the $1.5 trillion Neom mega-city.

According to the Financial Times, informal discussions have taken place with China and South Korea—both seasoned Olympic hosts—about stepping in, with Saudi Arabia potentially deferring its hosting to 2033.

Trojena was first unveiled in March 2022 and was awarded the rights to host the 2029 Games before construction began. The resort is planned to span over 60 square kilometres at elevations reaching 2,600 metres, with more than 30km of ski runs, a man-made lake, and luxury accommodations.

The Trojena team have posted construction updates over the past year or two showing impressive progress already, with the world’s biggest crane amongst machinery on site working on the build, however it remains unclear when Trojena is expected to open. 

Given the region’s arid climate and minimal natural snowfall, Trojena will rely heavily on artificial snowmaking, powered by desalinated seawater pumped from the Red Sea—over 200 kilometres away. Project managers have posted images of a short winter snow ski run apparently created with conventional snowmaking at the site. Trojena will offer snowsports year-round which is expected to require dry slopes and all-weather snowmaking machines to achieve.

The Asian Winter Games were first staged in former winter Olympic city Sapporo in Japan in 1986, but have been on and off since. The Games were revived in China’s Harbin earlier this year after an eight-year hiatus. Kazakhstan and South Korea are also former hosts.

China’s foreign ministry denies knowledge of any hosting shift for 2029, and South Korea confirms only preliminary contact, according to Bloomberg and the FT.