Ice Factor director Jamie Smith told me he is determined to get an Ice Factor up and running in Inverness.
He was hoping to build one at the new marina but is now considering other sites in the Highland Capital, where he is certain it will be a massive success.
“We get 130,000 visitors a year coming to Kinlochleven, so with the catchment area of Inverness the potential is massive,” he said.
Jamie, who is from Plockton in Wester Ross, explained why he is set on having a centre in Inverness.
He said: “When I was a kid we used to come over to Inverness once a month to do the shopping, and the highlight of my day was getting a milky coffee at Oliver’s.
“The sad thing is, there isn’t that much more for kids to do there these days, other than hang around at the Eastgate Centre.”
Surprisingly to me, most of the business at the Kinlochleven facility is from families and couples rather than the climbing fraternity. They certainly have their place, and the climbing walls – just one of which cost nearly £500,000 – are among the best in the world. That’s why climbing guides bring their clients to the centre for training, particularly when the weather is too bad to go out in the hills.
But when we were there, we also saw young kids trying out the wall – and getting to the top – because the range of climbing on offer is phenomenal.
“A lot of climbing wall owners are obviously serious climbers,” says Jamie, “so they put in technical routes. But we know the bulk of our market is families with kids, so you have to cater for everybody.”
* This piece was intended to run alongside my feature on the Ice Factor in today’s Inverness Courier – pick up a copy to read about the main event!