Bounce Below is a feat of imagination, let alone engineering. There’s something rather Alice in Wonderland about disappearing through a tunnel into the depths of a disused slate mine, to arrive in a surreal subterranean world of giant trampolines and slides.
Located in Snowdonia, north Wales, Bounce Below opened in the summer of 2014. Created within a cavern twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral, it’s essentially a huge playground, with three vast net-style trampolines slung one above the other and linked via walkways, tunnels and 60-foot (18-metre) slides. To add an extra touch of magic, the whole space is illuminated by a multi-coloured LED light show.
Bounce Below has been designed to bring out the child in you whatever your age, and most of the hour-long sessions allow everyone to pile in together. However, there’s also Bounce Below Junior for kids aged three to six, while Bounce Below Family sessions run at weekends and during school holidays, allowing families with kids aged between seven and 18 to enjoy their bounce away from any adult-only groups.
But while it might be fun for all the family, it isn’t one for the faint-hearted: the whole thing is suspended over an 85-foot (26-metre) sheer drop onto the rocks below. Luckily the lights mostly disguise that fact and once you get into it and realise the nets are pretty much impenetrable, the fun factor takes over.
The attraction – the first of its kind in the world – is currently ranked as the number two thing to do in Blaenau Ffestiniog. That places it second only to Zip World Titan, said to be the only four-person zip line in Europe, which is run by the same company.
Bounce Below, Zip World Titan and Zip World Velocity – a solo zip line where speeds in excess of 100mph (161kph) can be reached – together represented an investment of £1.2m ($1.7m, €1.6m).
New for 2015 is Zip World Caverns – underground zip lines, rope bridges, balance beams and tunnels which you can watch people playing on from your vantage point above them on the trampolines.
Welcome to the playground
We visited Bounce Below on an August summer bank holiday weekend. On the nets: my boyfriend’s four children – aged between eight and 16 – and me.
First up, before even entering the cavern, was the safety briefing and the provision of helmets – a legal requirement when going underground rather than anything to do with the trampolining itself. We’d also had to sign everyone in individually on arrival, each being provided with a paper wristband with our personal number on it so we could be checked in and out again at the end of the session. The briefing was relaxed but thorough and the checks very much adhered to – but this was done in such a way that it didn’t impinge on the fun. Once you were let loose on the trampolines, you really did feel you could let your hair down.
Big reveal
The excitement started to build as we walked in through the tunnels, but nothing – not even the photos on the website – had prepared us for the Bounce Below cavern itself. Coloured lights made the huge enclosed net trampolines glow in the dark, with the three levels broken up by slides and ramps. If you’re trying to visualise this, you need to put trampolining centres out of your mind, because Bounce Below is something totally different: not really trampolining as you know it, but rather an adventure playground that happens to bounce underfoot as you run (and occasionally stumble) across it.
Once we were given the nod to go – wow, what an experience. The hour absolutely flew by. We all bounded straight across to the net walkway taking us to the next level, from where there was a brief moment of hesitation before we threw ourselves down the first slide of the day – essentially just a netting tube that drops almost vertically down. At that point you’re hooked. Next, another slide, and finally a huge spiral ramp, lit in changing neon colours like a psychedelic spider’s web, to climb back up to the entry level and start all over again.
The nets weren’t overcrowded – no doubt for safety reasons, but it really added to the fun not to have to queue to go down slides or up walkways.
The whole thing really was utterly fabulous, and loved by everyone from the youngest kid (aged eight) to me, the big kid (age not supplied!). The kids have all been working out how far Bounce Below is from home, and whether they can go back to have their birthday parties there.
There’s a maximum weight for bouncing, and also no disabled access, but you don’t need to be good at trampolining.
Food and beverage
Food and beverage on-site is surprisingly good. The café has a decent menu of hot and cold food, including daily specials, as well as takeaway options including cakes and sandwiches. Most dishes are crowd pleasers – burgers, jacket potatoes, chicken goujons and so on – but there were also soups and quiches and other less expected options. Soft drinks and hot drinks are available – as well as alcohol, should you need to calm your nerves after a 100mph zip ride.
It’s also very good value: we fed two adults and four children, including non-alcoholic drinks, for £40 ($57, €53), and the food got thumbs-up all round. It was busy even though there are plenty of tables, but we were warned in advance of a 25-minute wait – good management of our expectations. My only slight criticism of the café was that the staff seemed young and inexperienced – fairly helpful if you could get their attention, but mostly keen to avoid eye contact.
Vending machines selling soft drinks are also available in the cavern, should you work up a thirst while bouncing.
Finally, there’s a shop on-site selling all sorts of souvenirs, which is on the right as soon as you enter and very much draws you in – especially as the rest of the welcome area is a little on the grey side. There were a few people milling around in there.
All in all, the whole Bounce Below experience is simply great fun, and also good value at £20 ($29, €26) a head and comes highly recommended.
