Highlands indoor climbing centre ahead of schedule

Progress on the Ice Factory development in Kinlochleven is three weeks ahead of schedule and managing director, Jamie Smith, says it is on course for a December 2003 opening.

The £2m project, centred on the conversion of a disused storage bunker - formerly part of the town's past aluminium industry - will become home to the biggest - at 18 metres - indoor ice climbing facility in the world and will have the UK's largest articulated rock climbing wall.

Smith says the centre, with over 1000sq m of indoor rock and ice climbing, will provide a foul weather alternative to the real thing, with the provision of ice and rock climbing instruction, plus a children's adventure course/cr'che, bouldering, films, tutorials and lectures, an industrial interpretation zone, equipment hire, a sauna/steamroom/hot tub, a restaurant, café and retail facilities. Courses for novice climbers will also be available.

The Ice Factory will be aimed at not only the 280,000 climbers said to visit the Lochaber area every year, but also its 1.5 million traditional tourists.

The project was originally developed by the Kinlochleven Land Development Trust (KLDT) which obtained environmental renewal funding of £770,000 from the Highlands & Islands Enterprise Network, £275,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund and a £702,000 European Regional Development grant from the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme.

KLDT then leased the renovated building to Ice Factory, which is to invest £250,000 into its development.

Financial support has also been provided by Gore-Tex, Haglofs, RedBull and Allcord.

When completed, the project will be the National Centre for Ice Climbing in the UK and the Regional Climbing Centre for the West Highlands. Details: www.ice-factory.co.uk