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The new adrenaline rush

PROFESSIONAL SNOWBOARDERS Keir Dillon, Gigi Ruef and Sani Alibabic nearly collapsed when the wave of humidity hit them as they stepped out of the plane to Dubai this week and they found it hard to believe they were here to snowboard.

Gigi and Sani had visited Dubai before but the concept of snow in the desert still blows them away.

'I thought 'It's pretty hot and to think I'm going to be snowboarding in these kinds of temperatures',' Gigi said.

But Sani said once you're on the slope you could be anywhere.

'You could be on a mountain anywhere,' he said. 'They have everything they need. A snowboard and snow. All they need is fun.'

Keir agreed and said the facility was only limited by the creativity of the snowboarders.

'There's jumps and handrails and two levels of hills,' he said.

'You can have so much fun. It's the most amazing thing and you're changing kids lives with it (Ski Dubai).'

It was Keir's first time in Dubai and he said the facility was perfect for giving kids the opportunity to learn the skill or just have fun.

'Snow boarding is a little bit hard the first day but if you can continue for two days you get the hang of it and then you can take it anywhere in the world,' he said.

But for anyone who has ever sat at the end of Ski Dubai in a restaurant and watched people tumbling down the slope it would be easy to be worried about safety. But Keir said it was a safer environment here than other slopes.

'It looks a bit crazier to people that haven't taken part in it but it's very safe on the slope. It's confined and everything is padded and fenced off.'

He encouraged kids to give snowboarding a try, even in Dubai.

'The main thing is to do it as often as you can and practice and this is the perfect opportunity to do it. There are so many good snow boarders who grew up on little mountains. It seems like a great place to meet other kids from all around the world. They come and just have fun, cruising the chair lift and trying to learn a 180.

'And seeing their smiles when they land a trick for the first time.'