Nevis Range is planning to take its visitors to new heights with the introduction of a series of high ropes courses at the foot of the mountain gondola.

Nevis Range, near Fort William, is to build a series of high ropes courses at the foot of the UK’s only mountain gondola. The Family and the Forest courses will cater for all ages from the very young to the very old, and for all abilities, from the complete novice to the more adventurous.

The Family course to be built in a corner of the existing car park will have 2 levels, one at approximately 1m off the ground, and the higher, about 4m off the ground. Features at each level will include swing tyres, postman’s walk (a high rope), an Indiana bridge (horizontal rope ladder) and a zip wire.

The Forest course will be built in the Leanachan Forest, some 10m high into the existing spruce trees, some of which are over 100ft tall and 50 years old. This course will be geared towards more adventurous individuals and will feature swinging platforms, a balance beam and a sliding trapeze, and will end with a 100m zip wire finishing close to the Family course.

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Both courses will be constructed by Rope Course Construction and Inside Out Scotland and will be verified by European Ropes Courses Association (ERCA), the organisation responsible for formulating safety standards for ropes courses. The courses will also be graded from easy to difficult using the easily recognisable green, blue, red and black grading system.

£77k of funding has been received from Highlands and Islands Enterprise towards the estimated £250k project.

Marian Austin, MD of Nevis Range, said: "This new ropes activity is an integral part of our plan to grow and diversify the business. Since opening in 1989 as a ski area and all year round visitor attraction, we have diversified into mountain biking, which led to us becoming the venue for a round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

"And the success of the World Cup has resulted in the Motorcycle Trial World Championships coming in June this year. Last year we also launched the Nevis Bike School and built a new red graded mountain bike cross country trail, the only one in the UK accessed by gondola.

"The ropes course has been in planning for several years now and its taken us all that time to secure the funding, planning and leases, as well as carry out the research and feasibility studies needed before we could start."

It is expected that the ropes course will open early June 2010, to coincide with the Mountain Bike World Cup event at Nevis Range.