An extreme sports tower for climbing and BASE jumping is proposed for Dubai’s waterfront

Can the experience of scaling Mount Everest be duplicated in an arid, desert market whose average annual high temperature exceeds 92 F?

Dubai is that market, and the improbable has been proposed, in the form of a 300-plus-meter-tall (984.3-foot) extreme sports tower, for which the firm 10 Design has been commissioned as the design architect. If approved, the tower would be located at Dubai’s Marina, and provide opportunities for climbing, rappelling, and BASE jumping.

News of the proposal was first reported by The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

10 Design’s website says the waterfront site for the tower would be 106,169 sm. The tower itself would be created through an exterior hexagrid skin.

“The form morphs between two inverse triangles from the top to bottom, creating three platforms for jumping at the upper level and three open spaces at the ground for landing,” 10 Design stated. “The form is sculpted to create jumping platforms at 300 meters, 250 meters, and 200 meters. The ground floor is pushed out to create a large canopy.”

The proposed tower would attempt to reproduce the Mt. Everest experience with a series of base camps, locating a variety of extreme climbing, abseiling, and jumping activities, according to The Dubai Chronicle and other news outlets. The base and lower levels of the tower would offer training and simulation services as well as climbing walls and bungee jump towers for beginner visitors to help them up their abilities, according to the website GrindTV.com.

If this tower proposal goes forward, it might even feature ice-pick climbing, which would be a neat trick, given that Dubai’s average high temperature ranges from 75 F in January to 106 F in August.

Cost estimates and a completion date for this project were not available.

The unusually shaped tower would allow BASE jumps from 300, 250, and 200 meters above the ground. Image: 10 Design

The base and lower levels of the tower would offer instruction, simulation services, and climbing walls and bungee jump towers for beginners. Image: 10 Design