A THRILLING new climbing challenge will be part of the Cumbrian Mountain Festival this Easter.

"The Rock" is a spinning, tilting, computerised climbing wall brought from London for the festival to provide the Climbing Wall Challenge which participants have to hang on to for as long as they can.

Richard Warren, secretary of the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association, said: "The Rock is great fun. You don't need any climbing experience in fact it's suitable for anyone from the age of six to 60."

The Rock will be at Lakeside car park, Foxfield Business Park, in Keswick, tomorrow (Saturday) and at Brockhole Visitor Centre, Windermere, on Easter Monday, with prizes for the people who hang on the longest announced on Easter Monday.

The mountain festival started last year as part of the United Nations International Year of Mountains. This year's event also features a series of illustrated talks across the county from renowned mountaineers, including a humorous account of an RAF team's 2001 Everest expedition that can be seen at Kendal Town Hall on April 24.

For information about the Mountain Festival and programme of events visit your local Tourist Information Centre or go to:

http://www.lakedistrictoutdoors.co.uk

Meanwhile, in the 50th anniversary year of the first ascent of Everest, an exhibition called Everest: The Top of the World, is to be staged at the Helly Hansen National Mountaineering Exhibition at Rheghed, Penrith, from the beginning of May.

April 17, 2003 11:30