VISITORS will be able to scale new heights next year at Hampshire County Council’s Calshot Activities Centre, with new aerial trekking, auto-belayed climbing, bouldering and interactive climbing facilities, thanks to a £320,000 investment.

Improvement works will begin this month, and the new facilities will be available from next spring, with most offered in a flexible pay-and-play format without the need to book in advance.

Sean Woodward, the county council’s executive member for recreation and heritage, said: “Climbing is an enormously popular sport in Hampshire, and by investing in our facilities we aim to ensure that Calshot remains a destination of choice. It will be the only venue in the region with such a variety of activities, and will include new technology, such as ValoClimb, an interactive climbing wall, with smart projection technology.

"Anyone, from young children to serious adult climbers, can enjoy interactive games such as dodging incoming asteroids while climbing.

“This enables Calshot to continue to provide great climbing for serious enthusiasts, but also opens the door to families and others who want to try out a range of exciting activities, without needing to book ahead. I hope we’ll inspire people of all ages to try something new.”

The new activities include:

• Aerial trekking – new indoor high ropes course including balance beams, tightrope bridges, stepping stones and zip wire, while visitors are attached to a continuous safety system.

• Auto-belayed climbing - varied fun climbing walls with an automated safety system which takes up the slack during a climb and controls the descent, maximising your climbing time.

• Interactive climbing - active play technology which invites anyone, from the youngest children to hard training adults, to a have fun and get great physical exercise.

• Bouldering – state-of-the-art bouldering cave with improved indoor rock climbing, enabling climbers to move freely and flexibly between climbing holds.

To allow for building work, the current bouldering wall (low-level climbing wall) will be closed from October 21 until early next year when the new bouldering facility will be available for climbers.

All other facilities, including climbing walls, will be open as usual.

In the meantime, Calshot Activities Centre offers a wide range of water and land-based recreational courses and activities, including dry slope skiing, velodrome cycling, climbing walls, kayaking, windsurfing and dinghy sailing, all of which can be included in programmes for schools.