The rope course has opened at Landmark and is aimed at younger children who have previously missed out on some of the fun at the adventure park in the centre of Carrbridge.

Older children and more adventurous adults are able to tackle the existing RopeworX course through the foliage of the trees but their younger siblings and elderly relatives have been left behind to watch from the ground.

Mr Danny Fullerton, the attraction's general manager, and his team decided to call in a team of specialist adventure engineers and safety consultants from England to design the rope course high above the ground.

His criteria was that it had to be as thrilling as the demanding RopeworX route but also inviting to Landmark's younger and older visitors.

After several months of development and testing the new facility, the Tarzan Trail was born and earlier this week it was officially opened to the public.

Experts have ensured that the all-important safety equipment is in place along the route through the trees so that no one using it can get harmed.

"Our latest attraction is designed to test even the most timid of children and the most inactive mums and dads," said Mr Fullerton. "RopeworX opened two seasons ago and has been a phenomenal success. I had anticipated that about a quarter of our guests would be up for the tough challenge it offers, but I was really surprised to see that more than half are using it, which, when we consider the age and ability range of our visitors, is amazing."

He continued: "One thing we quickly realised was that the height restriction of 1.5 metres was slap bang in the height zone of most kids who are ready to take on these kinds of challenges.

Six-year-old Regan Innes, her dad Stuart and cousin Charley Taylor on the newly-opened Tarzan Trail at Landmark.

"Consequently a lot of our smaller guests were missing out. Also missing out, of course, were the less adventurous older kids and adults.

"We gave this a lot of thought and consulted with our supplier – Rope Course Developments of Dorset. Together we came up with the idea of a scale- down ropes course with an overhead rail system ensuring maximum possible safety.

"We worked up some ideas with RCD and their designers came up with what we now call the Tarzan Trail. It is every bit as challenging, but not as high nor as exposed as our other course; we have trialled it over the last week and it is going down a storm with families."

The Tarzan Trail allows the park to lower the minimum height of the children it can let head into the trees from 1.5 metres to 1.1 metres, allowing younger children to join their big brothers and sisters.

"The concept of putting these types of attractions within a 'theme park' setting and included in the ticket price is unique" explained Mr Fullerton. "Aerial ropes courses tend to be stand-alone attractions.

"It is unusual to be able to enjoy them in an adventure park with so many other things to do. It's a great way of keeping the whole family active."

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