In reply to Removed User:
Hi Guys
Many thanks to all for the deluge of well wishes. It's really helped lift the moral of a gutted team.
As per previous posts, no one has been hurt.
The fire was accidental owing to an element failure in the Sauna.
Staff livelihoods will be bubble wrapped - they're a brilliant team and we will look after them.
The fire has destroyed the sauna/steam room and taken out 50% of the new bouldering area which was being built above.
The fire was contained, and no damage to the climbing walls or ice walls.
The big problem is smoke damage to the building.
We've started to strip off nearly 9,000 holds - really disappointing given the amount of effort that's gone into route setting. Kev did a brilliant job leading the route setting team and getting our routes to such a standard.
The walls will require to be scrubbed with sugar soap and pressure washed, probably a new paint job. Then a massive job of route setting over 125 lines.
The new bouldering area will be rebuilt and the old bouldering wall revert to the dry tooling cave.
Really sorry that we can't act as the hub for climbers in Lochaber this summer. Especially as the summer has been so wet here.
Too early to say how long the centre will be closed until we've had full engineering reports next week.
However, Ice Factor will be back. bigger, brighter and as bold as it was when we opened 12 1/2 years ago.
We'll keep our Facebook site updated and post images to keep everyone in the loop.
Again a massive thank you to everyone for their support. Its been a painful experience but the responce from the climbing community has reminded me why I set up Ice Factor.
Very Best
Jamie
