Al Qaeda Terrorist Drop-Out, And Champion Skier, Builds "Green" Ski Slopes On Sand Dunes In Qatar

Have those people in the Gulf Emirate state of Qatar gone mad? Or have they simply gotten a case of heat stroke while smoking their nargilas in Qatar’s normally 50+ Celsius heat?

Well, it appears that neither is the case as plans are being made to develop a giant refrigerated ski slope on the sand dunes by using a combination of carbon friendly solar energy and nuclear power.

The idea is being promoted by A.F. Ool, a Sudanese nuclear energy scientist who just happens to have a passion for snow skiing as well.

“Growing up as a young skier in a nomadic tribe in the deepest desert of Sudan, it was always hard to find places to practice my ski jumping. Now, Thanks be to God, we have the technology to power our dreams,” says Ool who plans to harness the nuclear energy power from Tehran to fuel his dreams.

Dr. Ool’s own background is about as unique as the project itself. Coming from a remote Bedouin village in the heart of Sudan, he learned how to ski when visiting the French Alps. From there, the story gets even more bizarre when he was recruited by Al Qaeda and wound in a terrorist training camp, where they taught him the basics of nuclear technology.

He eventually escaped from there on a hovercraft he designed himself she he found out his “hosts” wanted to use this technology to carry out a major terror attack at an international ski tournament.

The story doesn’t end here, as he was able to continue his studies in America, and also received assistance from Iranian nuclear scientists, making the entire saga even stranger, considering America’s aversion for both Al Qaeda and Iran.

“I have a dream, a white dream. A dream where the men of Qatar not just wear white, but walk upon white, drive upon white and ski upon white.”

Dr. Ool plans to use both solar and nuclear energy to create the massive refrigeration system necessary to create snow from fresh water that will be made from desalination, which is part of another project called “seawater greenhouse” in which the desalinated water will be pumped up to the sand dunes and then released through specially designed refrigeration units which will supposedly turn the liquid into snow.

Taking Qatar’s searing summer heat into mind, the process is paradoxically designed to work best when temperatures are at their maximum; and as an added bonus, the water from the melting snow will be used to irrigate Qatar green areas.

To use concepts that might have caused massive destruction for something that will be both carbon friendly and ecologically useful only shows that technology can be channeled into uses that are beneficial and not destructive.

It will be interesting to see how this project is put into actual use, once completed. Not only will it create a truly unique sports and recreation concept in a most non-likely location, but one that is beneficial as well. The Iranians themselves should take notice of how a certain kind of technology can used in the right manner.

(With the name Dr. A. F. Ool (A fool? April Fool?) we can hardly know if this is a crazy Qatari joke, or the basis of the next Sacha Baron Cohen feature film. Maybe a friend or enemy for The Zohan? Do note that the newspaper article ran on April 1st.)

::Qatar Snow City via Global Voices Online via Qatar Visitor