Snowy Davos closes as skiing season opens in Saudi Arabia

Families enjoy the sand-associated sport on ice on top of the mountain. (Courtesy of SPA)

Child is captivated by the snow and he wants a taste. (Courtesy: SPA)

Many visitors were intrigued by the idea of snow in Tabuk and thus wanted to try out ice skiing. (Courtesy: SPA)

Jabal Al-Lawz is a mountain located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, it is relatively close to the Jordanian border. (Courtesy: SPA)

TABUK: The snow that fell on Al-Lawz Mountain on Thursday brought out young people who love to ski, and who turned sand-skiing into ice-skiing.
Visitors were interested in the young people skiing on snow and wanted to try it themselves.
Roads leading to the snow-covered areas were crowded with hikers enjoying the beautiful white mountains and the cold, fresh weather.
The two centers of Alkan and Al-Lawz experienced rainfall accompanied by snow, which attracted large numbers of families from Tabuk city and neighboring districts — and from outside of the area — to see this annual visitor that covers the mountains, valleys and hills of the north of Tabuk each year.
Government sectors concerned with traffic, security and roads, along with the Red Crescent, Civil Defense and the Border Guards, are monitoring the situation and are ready to manage any possible emergency.
The local population gathers every year to watch this phenomenon. They arrive at the mountain early to welcome the snow and consider this time to be the most beautiful of the year.
Last week, Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman for the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection, told the Saudi Press Agency that a cold-air front would push toward the northern areas and would continue until the middle of next week.
The front is expected to cause snowfall, particularly in the Northern Borders and Jawf regions, accompanied by low temperatures, dropping to -2°C.