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Your Weekend | Thursday May 5 2011
WeekendsOut
Leanna MacLarty found herself heading west to taste heart-stopping challenges that drove her up the wall
Fabulously frosty
EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO Depart from Aberdeen or Inverness* area
Departs:
6, 13*, 20 & 27 August 2011
From only:
For:
£129
2 Days
Quote Ref:
AB226
Share the 2011 experience at the Tattoo’s magnificent new multi-million pound arena on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, where the new facility will play host to a glittering array of talent including Massed Highland Dancers, the Dutch Mounted Bicycle Band and the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland plus many more • Return coach travel from Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Ellon, Aberdeen, Stonehaven, Stracathro & Perth or Elgin, Forres, Nairn & Inverness*(13 Aug) • One night bed & breakfast at the 3-star Holiday Inn, Glasgow Airport • Entrance to Edinburgh Military Tattoo • Visit to Edinburgh with free time for shopping or sightseeing • Alternative stay at Edinburgh Hotel cost £169 quote ref. AB279/IV258 • Book online at www.diamondhols.co.uk Diamond Holidays ABTA WO552
170 Union Street, Aberdeen
BROCHURE
& 01224 338004
email: holidays@travelshopscotland.com www.travelshopscotland.com
Single room supplements apply. Subject to availability.
ABERDEEN IN THE 70s By Raymond Anderson NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
For the city of Aberdeen the 1970s was indeed a time of change. North Sea oil came ashore and the city adapted to the benefits and challenges of being the oil capital of Europe.
T
HE mountains lining Scotland’s western coast are renowned as among the best backdrops in the country for climbing, hiking and mountaineering. What better setting could there be, then, to erect the world’s largest indoor ice-climbing facility than the rural hinterland of Kinlochleven, close to Fort William? Boasting a sheer ice wall of around 50ft, the centre’s biggest draw may sound intimidating to the casual adventurer. But the Ice Factor facility is fully geared up with the
The Isles of Glencoe hotel and leisure centre
equipment, training and expertise to welcome beginners of all ages for their first attempt at scaling a vertical wall of ice. The frozen wall is not the only activity to attract families from across the country. Ice Factor also offers expansive indoor rock climbing walls and the UK’s largest fixed rail adventure which means a whole day out or even a weekend packed with activities for thrillseekers coming from farther afield. With a cafe and a bar to choose from inside the centre, there are plenty of options for any adults who would prefer to oversee while the younger generations
use their youthful exuberance to power them up the walls. A children’s play area inside the centre also means that any youngsters not old enough for a set of crampons will have plenty to keep them busy. The disused carbon factory was part of the Kinlochleven Aluminium Works, which closed in 2000. The Ice Factor opened three years later and now regularly attracts 130,000 visitors through its doors every year, making it one of the busiest and most successful activity centres in the region. The record-breaking heights of the centre’s main attraction may sound impressive, but nothing compares to the sight of the sheer ice walls and the climbers tackling them with the aid of
crampons and ice axes. Ice Factor instructors, who all share a personal love of climbing and mountaineering, offer a two-and-a-half-hour instruction session to get novice climbers familiar with everything to do with the sport, from using ice axes to belaying. After a few tentative chips at the ice, I was soon scaling the wall, maybe not with leaps and bounds, but certainly with enthusiasm. Sticking to the wall like a wellarmed Spiderman, and secured by a rope, it was an exhilarating feeling to reach the top. The Bethan Bothy, a bar located inside the Ice Factor building, is a cosy environment where tired climbers can boost their energy levels with
a meal or a drink ahead of a second session on the walls or a drive home. After a hard day’s climbing we were famished and were pleasantly surprised to find that a new Hungarian chef has revamped the centre’s menu to provide an innovative and delightful selection of hearty meals. Built next to the climbing centre, and suspended 50ft from the ground, is an aerial assault course with the capacity to make grown adults quake with trepidation and children giddy with excitement. Safely strapped into a harness, there is little to fear, but when you are standing on a precipice and willing yourself to walk a wobbling tightrope, that is a difficult fact to bear in mind. The typically gusty west coast weather gives the already nerve-
Above: A class learning the ropes at the ice wall Left and below: Instructor Jamie Smith
racking balancing act an extra feeling of risk. The towering circuit incorporates a series of obstacles like a rope ladder, a tightrope and even a suspended section of climbing wall before a final abseil to the safety of the ground level. Although the Ice Factor is an indoor facility, the instructors also offer outdoor training courses on some of the most scenic and challenging parts of the local west coast countryside. After a long day’s adventuring, the Isles of Glencoe hotel and
leisure centre is the ideal place to take the family back to for some relaxation. There is nothing better to treat aching muscles than a spell in the swimming pool, Jacuzzi and sauna offered by the hotel, which is around a 20-minute drive from Ice Factor through some breathtaking scenery. The hotel offers good-sized rooms with a stunning view overlooking Loch Leven, and a menu which should satisfy the whole family.
The Isles of Glencoe has everything you need to relax after your ice wall exertions
This book’s 400 images show the fashions, the growth of housing suburbs around Aberdeen, the protests and unrest.
ON SALE NOW ONLY
£12£2.9.959) (p&p
TRAVEL FACTS
Order on-line or by calling
01224 338000
■ Ice Factor website: www.ice-
factor.co.uk
170 Union Street, Aberdeen
Phone number: 01855 831100 ● Hit the Ice skills course (2 hour 30 minute instructed class) is £48. ● Daily rock climbing classes are £30 for adults and £25 for juniors. ● Full-day adventure pack (rock, ice and aerial course) is £75 for adults and £60 for juniors.
Two hours’ ice climbing (without instruction) £25 All-day rock climbing (without instruction) £9 ...........................................................................................
■ Isles of Glencoe website:
www.islesofglencoe.com
Phone number: 0844 855 9134 ● Double room with loch views available from £109 B&B