Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 29 on 25/10/2006.

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Scotland's adventure playground

The area around Fort William and Lochaber is promoting itself as the Outdoor Capital of the UK. Sally Toms looks at what’s on offer

Scotland’s Western Highlands have always been an outdoory sort of place.

Ben Nevis has attracted hill climbers and mountaineers for centuries, and more recently several major outdoor events have used Fort William, the largest town, as a base including the Annual Scottish Six Day Motor Bike Trials and the Mountain Bike World Cup.

As well as the United Kingdom’s highest point (Ben Nevis is 4,406 ft high), this corner of Scotland also boasts the deepest; Loch Morar is 1,017ft deep and reputedly hides a Loch Ness type monster called Morag within its depths.

The region has some 37 rivers and 1000s of coastal, forest, mountain, munro and long distance walks, as well as some of the oldest ice age ravaged rocks on the planet – ideal for climbing and scrambling.

It also has the largest indoor ice climbing wall in the world – The Ice Factor – a mountaineering centre in Kinlochleven that runs courses indoors and outdoors all year round.

A few years ago, businesses and local communities began to realise the tourist potential of their landscape, and the Outdoor Capital of the UK (OCUK) was launched – a limited company with ambitions to marketing Fort William and Lochaber as the premier destination for outdoor pursuits and adventure tourism.

The specified area includes 2,000 square miles around Fort William and Glen Nevis, Glencoe and Loch Leven, Ardnamurchan, the Road to the Isles, Glen Spean and the Great Glen. But there are no specific borders and some activities will take you ev.....

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By Sally Toms

Section : Scottish Activities

Page number : 54