Edinburgh International Climbing Arena

Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA:Ratho, formerly the Ratho Adventure Centre) is an adventure sports facility located in Ratho, near Edinburgh, Scotland. Built in a disused quarry, it is the largest indoor climbing wall in the world.

Financial problems months after it opened in December 2003 put the Arena into receivership. It was purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council and fully reopened in May 2007 after a further programme of works costing around GB£6 million. The centre is now used by both recreational climbers and for competitions, and is also home to the Scottish National Judo Academy.

Originally used for supplying stone to the Central Belt of Scotland due to its proximity to the Union Canal, the quarry expanded from around a third of its present size in 1853 to the current outline in 1895. Edinburgh climbers Rab Anderson, Duncan McCallum and architect David Taylor formed the Ratho Quarry Company, and purchased the quarry in 1995 as the site for the climbing centre. The quarry, which had been unused for around ninety years, was filled with compacted rubble and heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs, making assessment of the site difficult until significant work had been carried out, but the assumption that the floor of the quarry was flat proved to be correct. Plans unveiled in late 2001 showed the estimated cost to be GB£7 million, with funding of GB£1.5 million to come from a Sportscotland lottery fund grant.

The climbing centre is located in the smaller of two lobes of a figure of eight that make up the quarry. After 250,000 tonnes (250,000 long tons; 280,000 short tons) of rubble was removed, the quarry was shown to have a broadly level floor and be almost 30 metres (98 ft) deep. During construction in April 2002, the partially completed roof was ripped off in a storm.

When it opened in December 2003, the centre was the largest indoor climbing arena in the world, but problems during construction increased the final cost to GB£22 million. In March 2004 the centre went into receivership due to a leaky roof, poor management, and a lack of money, leaving a number of contractors unpaid. It was purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council in October 2005 for GB£3.87 million, and then closed in August 2006 to allow full completion of the venue.

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