Ski Dubai and the Mall of the Emirates is another must-see in Dubai. Despite being Canadian, we'd never actually been downhill skiing, but why not start in Dubai? Attached to the shopping mall, Ski Dubai is a massive indoor structure, 60 stories high, with some impressively good slopes.

The whole Ski Dubai experience is very polished and well organized. They provide *all* the equipment - boots, skis, jacket, and snowpants. A shop right outside sells hats and gloves at reasonable prices - and these are also some of the best souvenirs we got from Dubai.

All the equipment is very clean - in fact my jacket and pants were brand new.

The ski lift drops you either half way or all the way up. Since this was our first time on downhill skis, we didn’t really graduate past the half-way-up. There is a TGI Friday's overlooking the slope, so others can enjoy your spills.

You can also rent snowboards, and they even have a couple of moguls. For those not daring enough to try some easy downhill, you can get a "snow park" pass which lets you run around in the snow and toboggan/sled down some small hills.

The shopping mall itself is a huge mall, but not really themed as other malls in Dubai are. A lot of the stores are western chains - with prices pretty similar to home.