UKC

Has anyone been on the ice factor thing at fort william. For someone who has never done any ice climbing or winter mountaineering is it good for a laugh. General introduction? My sister is offering to pay for a session for my christmas pressie

In reply to idiotproof:

Dear idiot

The Ice Factor is not in Fort William, but in Kinlochleven.

As you have never had the joy of winter climbing, it may be of help.

Norrie

PS Remember it is not the real thing.

In reply to Norrie Muir:

Dear Norrie

I will bear both those things in mind,

ta

Ross

In reply to idiotproof:

As an intro to ice it's the dogs and the staff are EXCELLENT! If offered a pressie - GRAB it with both crampons!
P

In reply to idiotproof:

I'm a member up there - it's become a ritual to call in there for 1 or 2 sessions on the ice every time I'm in Scotland.

Well worth it and maybe you'll meet the Famous Jamie from these forums!

Rich

In reply to Padraig:

Absolutely

and the staff are EXCELLENT!

Not the last time I was there. Not sure whether they were stressed or not but fought they were a bit 'short' shall we say.

In reply to gourd:

>"a bit 'short' shall we say"

a) vertically challenged.

b) using abrupt dialog.

c) one guy running around like a headless chicken.

Which?

In reply to JLS: Let me just dial 09(it's an easy competition you can't get it wrong!!) 2312.

b



Did I win anything?

Goodness me, I had no idea I had such a following on here. Well, firstly I'd like to thank...

...oh.


...hang on. It's not me is it

Does anyone know what the Covent Garden one is like, I was thinking of going this weekend...

In reply to Jamie Hageman: If you are as short as your name suggests then it could be you!

In reply to JLS: I was only 'wee' jamie to avoid confusion while pulling pints or checking people in to the wrong rooms at the Clachaig - Jamie B was there as well. The name has stuck although I'm not that wee, and it certainly has nothing to do with bladder control

In reply to idiotproof: Bit on the dear side and it gets well hacked up, but yes it's a laugh. I even got my other half, who hates cold and is horrified at the thought of ascending some frozen hill, to do some ice-climbing (verdict: "Brilliant!")! Unless roadside single-pitch ice climbs become available though, that'll be all she does.
Anyway I digress.
It's a good place to get a feel for being on ice, but you'd be as well hooking up with someone with a bit of experience and doing an easy route up on the hill.

In reply to BrianT:


Haven't you heard of Rjukan?

BTW, the ice wall is way thicker than on your last visit.

In reply to BrianT:

i would love to but this is an early pressie for when i head across the border in 3 weeks for a ten day jollie. I assume conditions wont be good by then. Maybe give this a try and then some time at the start of next year will try annd find someone to drag me up something

In reply to gourd:
Sorry to hear that gourd, we do try to give the best service we can but we are only human and everyone has a bad day Not an excuse but perhaps in mitigation: we frequently bounce from very quiet to excessively busy and have to staff the centre somewhere in between so my staff can find themselves working flat out and then some. Having said that they are all pretty good, love talking climbing and frequently even extend instructed sessions into their own lunch/break times to give customers a better experience.

If anyone does ever have a problem with the centre/staff you are of course welcome to call or e-mail me there to discuss it.

To anyone who thinks we are a bit dear? Fair enough. We charge based on the minimum necessary to keep the centre financially viable (top costs: staff wages - wish I could pay them more, they are worth it, insurance - like most walls, electricity and keeping ice on the walls). If the experience is worth that price to climbers they will keep on coming back, if not they wont. So far we are keeping our heads above water and have plenty of people coming to use the walls. Compared to Castleford we are about half the price for competent climbers to use the walls, but we are a climbing centre and they are set up to offer a slightly different experience. We feel we offer resonable value for those visiting the area looking for another option and have found people travelling from all over the country just to use the wall.

Hopefully we will have the promised big freeze and I will spend the winter instructing outdoors and the climbers we will see inside will be those resting their weary legs ( a lot of folk dont seem able to handle 5 winter days on the trot - including me sometimes!) or hungover heads the day after a great route

Al @ the Ice Factor

In reply to AlH:

No apology needed. I have found the staff on every other occassion to be more than helpful. Even offering advice on our technique whilst instructing others. Free tips are always welcome. I will remain a member and will no doubt be back on a number of occassions. It is a fantastic facility which deserves to be a success.

In reply to AlH:

I don't think your expensive at all - one of the Sunday Mags did a piece on you last weekend - they list the prices of other wall around the UK with one at Somerset House with a 26ft outdoor wall for £40 PER HOUR including instruction and gear - just about enough time, to put harness boots and crampons on for the complete novice!

(BTW - my favourite picture in the mag articale is the one with the belayer holding the invisible rope - presumably their art dept have airbrushed it out!)

In reply to 'Hilda':
Oops, slight embarassment there, we are actually staffing that wall for its owners!

We have spent a great deal of time and effort in planning those sessions to give the clients (who are unlikely to have any experience) a worthwhile time on the ice. We are looking at a session where the first part will be spent on the ground looking at standing on frontpoints and using axes efficiently and then everyone should have the opportunity to try 2 of the 3 differently angled climbing surfaces. The kit will be setup so that they can just step into it and go and the instruction will be pitched at a level appropriate to the clients and the length of the session - based on our summer experience of offering shorter ice sessions to tourists up here.

The Ice Wall is being set up as another attraction alonside the popular ice skating rink that Somerset House have every Nov - Jan.
The sessions are designed to give novices a brief exciting chance to climb on ice in inner city London. The pricing is felt to be comparable with other attractions in the Big Smoke (like the ice skating) given the fairly unique nature of the experience to your average Londoner (Covent Garden notwithstanding) and is set to cover the costs of maintaining a competent staff team and a mobile Ice Wall in situ in the centre of London.

Which Sunday paper was that, I lost track of how many we were in this weekend!

Al

In reply to AlH:
I think it was the Mail On Sunday Live Mag.

By the way I'm sure you'll have endless 'punters' for the Somerset House wall - Good Luck!