Why were these idiots digging in the snow at Ski Dubai?

After ‘The Amazing Race’ visited Dubai’s famous indoor ski slope last month, the centre is continuing to draw events as Oakley is sponsoring ‘freestyle nights’ this month.

The Oakley Freestyle Nights at Ski Dubai will pit the skills of the region’s finest amateur winter sports enthusiasts against each other in a bid to win top prizes.The first Oakley event was on November 16th, and the second will be on the 30th.

Among the styles being hosted during the contest are ‘Big Air’, which allows competitors to take off and perform airborne tricks once they have launched themselves from a ramp and a ‘Big Air Bag’ ensures a soft landing. Other styles are ‘Slope Style’, where entrants get to show off their slick freestyle skills as they make their way skiing or boarding down the runs, and the ‘Rail Jam’, a series of rail formations on the slope. Points are being awarded by judges, which lead to Oakley-sponsored prizes for those who make the biggest impression, with a major top prize given to the overall champion at the end of the contest.

The contest is open to any snowboarder or skier who purchases a Freestyle Night slope ticket at the ticket counter. The pass allows the competitors an extra hour on the slopes. Oakley is providing a free hot chocolate to all the Freestyle Night competitors on these nights. The series is expected to be a huge hit with Dubai’s legion of winter sports lovers whose second home is Ski Dubai, as it follows on from previous successful Oakley-sponsored competitions at the venue.

Last month at Ski Dubai, competitors in the American television reality series ‘The Amazing Race’ were required to take snow from the indoor ski area and build a snowman outside in the scorching Middle East desert heat. The episode gave its globetrotting contestants a nice taste of temperature extremes.

“The quality of the snow changes instantly the moment you bring it out,” said executive producer Bertram van Munster during the event. “And the snowman can’t be a little one—it has to be five-, six-foot-high snowman with eyes and a real carrot in his nose.”

This is the 15th installment of U.S. TV series, where contestants compete on a race of crazy activities staged around the world over 21 days.

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