Our aim: To launch an indoor climbing centre in Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, so locals and visitors can climb through the rain.
We are Three Wise Monkeys Climbing, and for over two years, we've been working hard, putting our blood, sweat and tears (as well as the last of our savings) into this project. We're a young start-up business, and we've got aspirations of going high places - literally.
Fort William is right in the middle of the “Outdoor Capital of the UK”, and with Ben Nevis right on the doorstep, the area is a phenomenal honey pot to climbers, walkers and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. However, the area has been known to suffer from occasional, somewhat heavy, rainfall. Yes - the rumours about the weather in the beautiful Scottish Highlands are true.
Because of this, Three Wise Monkeys Climbing are looking to convert a currently disused church, right on the Fort William high street into the biggest and best umbrella of them all – a state of the art indoor climbing centre, complete with a large bouldering room, roped climbing, a cafe, a training room and a sports massage facility. It will be the perfect place to get into climbing if you haven't before, or to salvage an enjoyable day when the weather stops play.
From the early days we've tried to set our business up so that it is good for the community that it's in. We've put our money where our mouth is in that regard, by paying the living wage when we've taken on help, by investing extra resources to rescue an old building, by using local suppliers and specialists, and by committing to install renewables to make sure our impact is as low as it can be. However, none of that means very much if we can't realise our dream, to open our indoor climbing centre and inspire others to get into climbing too.
This climbing centre project has been under development for the last two years, and a lot of planning, fund raising and hard graft has been done in that time, the Three Wise Monkeys Climbing team are now confident that their exciting project will be able to open its doors later this year if they can just raise a final £40,000 to meet their target needed to open the phase 1 bouldering wall
“The Three Wise Monkeys Climbing project is a truly exciting prospect for Fort William and the climbing community in the UK that visit for the world class summer and winter climbing. Having a new indoor activity for all ages and abilities open year round would be a huge benefit to people who love this amazing area, but get stuck when the weather is poor. We’re crowdfunding because we want the Lochaber locals and visiting outdoor community to have a chance to be part of the history of our project, we’ve put together some great rewards too so as well as a brilliant new climbing centre in town, everyone will get something back for supporting us.”
If you'd like to contribute, we've put together a selection of rewards, which you can choose running down the right hand side of the page, after that, please spread the word and we'll see you in the wall later this year!
Plus chose from a selection of great rewards including...
Awesome!