Saudi Arabia's Trojena Ski Resort Project in Doubt After Key Contracts Cancelled

In a surprising development this week, two major contracts for the ambitious Trojena ski resort in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled, raising questions about the future of one of the Middle East’s boldest construction projects. Trojena, planned as a mountain leisure destination with facilities for winter sports, including skiing in the desert kingdom, has faced both fascination and skepticism since its announcement.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the cancellations mark a potential turning point for the high-profile project, which was designed to bring alpine skiing to the desert kingdom as part of the broader NEOM mega-development initiative.

On Tuesday, Malaysia's Eversendai Corporation announced that its steel fabrication and construction contract with Trojena had been terminated. Just one day later, Italian infrastructure giant WeBuild confirmed that its contract to construct a multi-billion-dollar dam and freshwater lake had been axed.

The recent termination of billion-dollar contracts for Trojena marks a definitive turning point for Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megaproject. What was once billed as a "miracle in the desert" is now facing a reckoning of technical, financial, and environmental reality.

Trojena was designed to be the Crown Prince’s "crown jewel" for tourism—a year-round mountain destination located in the Tabuk province, where peaks reach up to 2,600 meters.

• The Concept: A futuristic ski resort featuring 36 kilometers of slopes and a 2.8-kilometer-long man-made freshwater lake.

• The Six Clusters: The project was divided into specialized zones: The Vault (a high-tech gateway), The Lake (luxury water-side living), and The Ski Village (outdoor skiing in the Gulf).

• The Technical Challenge: To maintain outdoor skiing in the Arabian Peninsula, NEOM planned to use advanced "dry-ski" surfaces combined with massive-scale artificial snowmaking powered by desalinated water piped from the coast.

From its unveiling in 2022, Trojena was a lightning rod for criticism. Skepticism generally fell into three categories:

1. Environmental Contradiction

Critics argued that building a freshwater lake and maintaining snow in an arid mountain range was the antithesis of "sustainability." The energy required for desalination and the carbon footprint of transporting millions of tons of steel and concrete into remote mountains raised serious "greenwashing" concerns.

2. Engineering Hubris

The "Bow"—a massive architectural structure intended to overhang the lake—and the dams required to hold billions of gallons of water in a desert valley were viewed by many engineers as dangerously over-ambitious.

3. Financial Sustainability

With NEOM's total projected costs reportedly ballooning toward $8.8 trillion by some internal audits, the "Giga-project" began to compete for funding with other massive Saudi initiatives. As oil prices fluctuated and foreign direct investment lagged behind targets, Trojena became an easy target for budget cuts.

The most significant blow came in January 2026, when the Olympic Council of Asia officially announced that the 2029 Asian Winter Games would be moved from Trojena to Almaty, Kazakhstan.

As of late March 2026, work at Trojena is reportedly 30% complete, but the termination of "contracts for convenience" suggests the Kingdom is pivoting toward more practical infrastructure or pausing the project indefinitely to stem financial losses.

It remains unclear whether the Trojena project has been cancelled entirely or if construction has simply been put on hold. Neither Saudi officials nor NEOM representatives have issued public statements clarifying the project's status.

The apparent setback comes as Saudi Arabia pursues its Vision 2030 economic diversification plan, which includes massive investment in tourism infrastructure and entertainment destinations. Trojena was envisioned as a year-round mountain resort featuring outdoor skiing, a man-made freshwater lake, and luxury accommodations at elevations exceeding 2,600 meters.

The project had already attracted significant international attention—and skepticism—given the technical and environmental challenges of creating a ski resort in one of the world's hottest regions.

Industry observers are now watching closely to see whether Saudi Arabia will clarify the project's future or if the contract cancellations signal a broader reassessment of the kingdom's most ambitious development plans.