Dubai X-Games

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2007, 7:19 PM by Lonely Planet

Under an Arabian sun, the hottest skateboarders, BMX riders and motocross athletes compete for medals and money while pushing the boundaries of gravity and sanity. For the third year in a row, Dubai's Festival City, a massive shopping mall and outdoor pavilion in the middle of the Middle East plays host to the X-Games.



With temperatures hovering at just under 32° Celsius (90° Fahrenheit), a dusty breeze kicks up from across Khor Dubai (Dubai Creek) and with it the aroma of rotisserie shawarm (roasted mutton served in flat bread) wafts in.

There's a street-course full of ramps, stairs, rails and ledges, a motocross jump (70 ft.+) and a 12 ft. tall vertical half-pipe. With ESPN cameras everywhere, instant-replays of the sickest tricks are played out to a pop-punk beat on a giant screen TV. In fact, if it weren't for the skyscrapers (including the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest at 141 stories) looming in the background and the multicultural crowd in the foreground, I could be in Anytown, USA. A group of preteen expat kids saying 'Yeah!' and raising horned fingers only adds to the illusion of being back in California.

Behind the 'skatebrats' I see a pair of veiled Muslim women, a couple of bearded Pakistanis in bengalis (oversized nightshirts) and two Emirati men in dishdashas (an all white gown and tribal headdress combo).



On a break from the vertical and intercultural action, I pick-up a copy of Rage, a free local skate magazine put out by Rage Skate Shop.

The zine is the fruit of a vibrant, diverse skate scene taking root here in the desert. Transplanted hometown heroes like Chef Spanky (a 17 year-old Lebanese skater and chef), Ibrahim Wadhai (a 15 year-old Iraqi skater out of Abu Dhabi) and Meriem Aissa, an Algerian snowboarder (often found on the artificial slopes at Ski Dubai) grace the pages of this local rag.

Only in Dubai are you as likely to skate with an American or Canadian as you are with an Iraqi or a Moroccan. And with three skateparks - Wonderland, Mamzaar Bowl & Hayyaa! Springs - not to mention loads of contests, visiting out of town pros (Ryan Sheckler & Bam Margera being the two most recent), in addition to jam sessions, punk rock shows and the X-Games, the only logical conclusion to come to is that Dubai has got it going-on.

- Baxter Jackson

Labels: Festivals and events, Middle East

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