Trojena, part of NEOM’s $500 billion utopian megacity, is currently rising in the Sarawat Mountains, promising 30 km of ski slopes, a man-made lake, a vertical village, and enough luxury branding to make Davos look like a camping trip.

Think: Ritz-Carlton in the cliffs, artificial snow under a 40°C sun, and a glass-covered amphitheater for 3,000 people who aren’t quite sure why they’re there, but love that it looks good on a drone shot.

The ambition? To host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
The price tag? Around $19 billion.
The setting? A place where it barely snows. Ever.

Trojena is more than a ski resort — it’s a statement. A surreal, glittering proof-of-concept that anything is possible when fossil fuel money meets post-architecture ambition.
It doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to look expensive.

But pumping desalinated water up a mountain to spray fake snow in the name of “sustainable tourism”? That’s either visionary or dystopian performance art.

Meanwhile, satellite images show tunnels, roads, and excavation underway. The lake’s basin is dug. The question is no longer “Can they do it?” but “Should they?”

Trojena isn’t just a resort. It’s Saudi Arabia’s rebrand in motion — from oil state to snow state. From tradition to simulation.

Visuals: (c) Courtesy of NEOM

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