Skiing and snowboarding are cool and all, but you know what would make them even better? Yep, you guessed it. Tanks, barbed wire, with the occasional bullet whizzing by. Skiing down the mountain, through the fog of war. Sending it harder than you’ve ever sent it before – all in the name of your country. One ski resort is about to give people something they never knew they needed: A place to enjoy snow sports and combat.
Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov has won Oscars for his war films (Burnt by the Sun, Best Foreign Language Film, 1995). And he recently made his ski industry debut by opening a ski resort that based on those films – the slopes will be decorated to look like battlefields. Barbed wire and war-torn tanks included. The resort will double as an education center for the people of Russia.
“Ski slopes will be located on an imitated battlefield, marked with barbed wire, but it will be made of rubber. There will also be burnt tanks, but you won’t get injured bumping on them,” Mikhalkov said.
Why in the name of silent powder days would he do such a thing? Patriotism, of course. Mikhalkov says that the resort is for people who want to ensure a patriotic upbringing for the younger generation.
Enticed by this war-torn ski fantasy? The resort will be built in Russia’s Volga region, near the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Just a hop, skip, and a jump away from any of us here in the States. This is also where some of Mikhalkov’s war movies were filmed. the resort will be named “Citadel”, after one of Mikhalkov’s recent WWII films, Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel (obviously a sequel to his award-winning flick). He cast himself in the lead role for the film. Apparently, it was a big deal in Russia. It was a top nominee for Russia’s entry in the Oscar’s foreign language film category, but didn’t make the cut.
Nikita Mikhalkov starring in his film “Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel”.
This isn’t the first time the Russian director took a stab at reigniting patriotism in Russia’s younger generation. He has also attempted to launch a chain of patriotic themed restaurants. At first, he failed to receive government funding for the chain, but the chain is now expected to launch in 2017 thanks to private loans. The ski resort has a projected price tag of $110 million. Twenty percent of that money is coming from regional authorities, while the other 80 percent is from private investors – who must have a serious concern for the lack of patriotism in Russia’s youth (a segment of Russian society that it turns out really loves to ski in swimsuits. Like, world record “loves.”). Or at the least, investors see riding snow as a way to lessen the generation gap in the oft-unstable country that has seen massive changes in both economy and infrastructure in recent years.
Mikhalkov might be on to something? Not with the generation gap thing but the themed snow riding idea. What if Spielberg opened a Star Wars-themed resort here? The Empire Strikes Back’s Hoth planet? Perfect for winter. Nerd alert.
The Russian resort will open to the public within the next three to four years.
