A Deeside winter Olympian has delayed his return to the sport this season to help transform his hometown gym into one of the best in Scotland.
Banchory snowboarder, Ben Kilner, has revealed plans to relocate his sports facility, The Unit, and expand it to four times the size due to increasing demand.
The current gym opened in the town’s Tillybrake Industrial Estate in May and proved so popular that membership was capped at 250 people in the space of just three months.
This has led to the family-run gymnasium becoming packed out during peak times.
Yesterday, Mr Kilner, 28, revealed The Unit will be moving to the grounds of the former Deeside Indoor Sporting Club (Disc), neighbouring the Tor-na-Coille Country House Hotel.
After the daily commute into Aberdeen for training sessions became increasingly problematic, he decided to push on with the project, one of his life’s ambitions.
The new gym will feature a studio for local exercise classes, and will also house three other businesses – SKS beauty, Deeside Physiotherapy and a hairdressers.
Mr Kilner said he had been due to fly out to Colorado last weekend to begin training on the slopes, but cancelled the trip in order to focus on getting The Unit open by February 1.
The snowboarder added: “We ended up hitting our third-year business plan target in the first three months and having to put a cap on the membership because the gym was just getting far too busy in the evenings.
“We were quick to realise we needed a bigger premises. Right now, we have got 250 members in a room that is 100sqm (1,076sq ft). With this move, the gym floor is going to be over 400sqm (4,305sq ft). We are really expanding to basically compete with most gyms in Scotland.
“The idea was also to help a lot of the local businesses get back on their feet again. Some were about to leave and go and move elsewhere.
“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult, it has been hard especially after canceling my first trip of the season to Colorado. The hardest part was telling my teammates I won’t be seeing them out on the road.
“I did say I would be seeing them hopefully on the next trip. The priority now is to get this gym up and running.”
Inspiration for gym comes from the states
Mr Kilner is hopeful The Unit can become a “world-renowned” gym, which will attract visitors from all over the world.
The sports centre will take inspiration from those he has visited in the US, including the globally-renowned Gold’s Gym on Venice Beach in California.
Mr Kilner – who competed in the men’s halfpipe at both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics – said: “One of the main things I have always noticed is that America is a league above the rest of the world. It seems to have it right in terms of having very comfortable environments.
“We really want to base our business model on competing with American gyms.
“During the last three, four, five years, I have made sure to go and visit as many gyms as I can.
“We really hope that, the way we go with the gym, it becomes a renowned facility all over the world.”
He added the equipment would be “extremely modern” and would “cater for all”.
Mr Kilner added: “Something we take pride in is making it feel very warm and welcoming, especially for those who find a gym environment intimidating.”
Aside from a small facility in the Banchory Leisure Centre, the town has no other gym and The Unit now attracts people from as far afield as Ballater.
