The magical place that gives youngsters a taste for adventure

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, we meet the team at Mount Cook Adventure Centre, a place which is opening up a whole new world to youngsters.

Chief executive Steve Turner gives Innovate a guided tour of the eight-acre former Derbyshire limestone quarry, which the not-for-profit organisation calls home.

Around 10,000 visitors come to Mount Cook every year – many of them schoolchildren – to climb high ropes, traverse sheer rock faces and abseil down man-made contours created by decades of excavation.

They are exposed to fresh challenges a world away from the everyday – building shelters, shooting bows and arrows and lighting fires using only friction.

Mount Cook also boasts a 100-metre zipwire, which transports brave souls at 35 miles per hour from a platform 25 metres up on the roof of the centre’s main building down to the quarry floor.

Steve tells Innovate: “We see on a daily basis the impact that coming here has – of what being in the countryside and taking part in our activities means.

“We see expressions change on people’s faces just as they walk up the drive. And we hear them saying, ‘Wow!’”

Mount Cook was the brainchild of Robin Sibson and Colin Adams. They launched Mount Cook in 2016 and since then have been working with schools, youth groups, charities, sports clubs and businesses to “broaden horizons, develop key skills and create lasting memories”.

Today, Mount Cook can cater for anything from business meetings to residential experiences, the latter of which can be transformational for some youngsters who have never experienced such an environment before.

Steve tells Innovate: “It’s really powerful because, on a daily basis, you can see the joy on the faces of guests, you can sense the confidence growing in individuals and the pride they feel.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes from feedback as it happens. You get it visually, you get it emotionally, and that’s a great motivator and inspiration.”

Steve says the centre has been warmly embraced by its community and he’s proud of the relationships that have been nurtured over the past nine years.

During that time the team has worked with 95 charities from the area and many of the county’s schools.

Madeline Horton, Mount Cook’s sales and marketing manager, told Innovate: “It’s really special to work with Derbyshire charities and to get so many kids from Derby to come to us and have an amazing experience here.”

To read the feature in full click here Innovate .