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OPENING TIMES ARE THE SAME AS FEB MOUNTAIN SPORTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. MONDAY-SATURDAY:10AM-7PM, SUNDAY:11AM-5PM

FEB 2006: In Profile: The Ice Wall Engineers

MAY 2004: ELLIS BRIGHAM INTERSHOP ICE CLIMB COMP

PR1. Opening night press release from DS.Emotion - 174KB Word doc'

PR2. Facts & figures press release from DS.Emotion - 177KB Word doc'

Edited text from PR2; THE TOYOTA ICE WALLS AT XSCAPE, CASTLEFORD

DID YOU KNOW…?

• Over 300m² of solid ice make up the very impressive climbable surface area!

• There are over 400 metres of scaffolding tube, 400 metres of steel girders and over 4000 nuts & bolts used in the steel skeleton structure.

• Over 100 tonnes of snow was provided by Xscape’s REAL snow slope to make the giant ice construction. Snow staff ensured the 16 snow cannons produced extra snow through the night so that the ice team had fresh REAL snow to use every morning!

• The ice is over 1 metre thick in places on the walls.

• The temperature inside the Ice Walls’ enclosure is a constantly chilling -5° centigrade.

• There are 7 vertical faces to choose from.

• The Beginners slope/face has a ‘gentle’ incline of 80°.

• More experienced climbers will relish the challenging 15m climb with overhang

• It’s not just a pretty face…. The ice walls also include an 8m deep crevasse –
which can be used as a chimney climb or crevasse rescue practice area.

HOW ARE THE ICE WALLS BUILT…?

Phase 1
• A strong steel structure is constructed inside the tower out of steel girders and scaffolding tubes.

• Wood and cargo netting is added to enhance the surfaces for the tonnes of ice that will be added.

• The giant freezers are switched on and the temperature is reduced to -5° centigrade.

Phase 2
• Once the temperature is low enough the ice team get to work moulding and shaping thinned snow slush around the steel structure BY HAND to form steep overhangs, vertical courses and gentle slopes to suit ice climbers of all abilities.

• The thinned snow slush is packed on tightly and the constant minus degrees temperature ensure it solidifies into ice (complete with icicles!) using a time perfect method to give the Ice Walls a unique surface ideal for climbing.

• As the ice walls take shape and the ice gets higher up the steel structure the team work on scaffolding platforms – and as it approaches the summit they must use climbing harnesses in order to get high enough to work – hoisting buckets of virtual frozen water and literally climbing up the wall as they are building it!

• The ice walls support structure is designed so that new faces can be added and overall shaped changed to keep all levels of climbers on their toes!