Principality Stadium to open new roof top adventure course

  • Kate Lewis reports

A zip wire on the roof of the Principality Stadium is opening to the public on Monday.

The eagerly anticipated attraction, called 'Scale', will be open year-round at the stadium in Cardiff, potentially on match days in the future.

Suspended 50 metres above the pitch, getting on the zip wire involves climbing to the top of the Principality Stadium roof, up 15 flights of stairs.

The experience includes a uniques bird's-eye view of the pitch. Credit: ITV Wales

It aims to blend "adrenaline and panoramic views to try to attract a broader audience to the home of Welsh rugby," according to organisers.

'Scale' is comprised of three parts. The first is called 'the climb', which as well as involving a lot of stairs, includes walking across the edge of the roof to take in a bird's-eye view of the pitch.

The second part is 'the zip wire', which travels at about 27 miles per hour, and the third is 'the drop', where people can abseil to the bottom.

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The organisers are partnering with Wire and Sky, who have worked on similar projects at Wembley Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Liverpool FC’s Anfield.

Views from the top stretch all the way to Cardiff Bay and the iconic Millennium Centre, as well as many other landmarks.

It is a plan which has been long in the making, with the idea in various forms taking more than 14 years to come to fruition.

Talking to ITV Wales, Scale general manager Claire Jenkins explained: "It's [the zip wire] taken different guises over the years. It was [going to be] an internal gantry walk with a pop up to the roof and a zip line to the pitch.

"But we needed something we could run all the time, while events are going on."

The zip line, which goes from one of the stadium's famous spires, in action. Credit: ITV Wales

Asked whether that included on game days, she added: "That's definitely the plan for the future for hospitality guests."

Abi Tierney, Welsh Rugby Union CEO says: “Our rooftop attraction in the heart of Wales merges the excitement of adventure sports with the rich heritage of our iconic stadium".

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