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Ex Caithness Lad With Adventure In
His Boots
Robert MacKenzie is a 14 year old Dingwall lad with Caithness roots. A
third year pupil at Dingwall Academy, his dad started taking him out rock
climbing when he was 3 years old. He has climbed all over the highlands
and had some fantastic adventures.
 Climbing has been a reason for him to
visit some of the wildest landscapes you could imagine from Mingulay in
the Outer Hebrides to Sardinia in the Mediterranean, from the forests of
France to the glens of Srathconon. Outdoor climbing has a real adventure
about it that he loves.
 Indoor climbing walls are a fantastic
way to train for climbing and are becoming very popular. Indoor climbing,
at climbing walls, is safer with less risk. It’s all about how difficult
the routes are and he likes to test himself.
Lots of people just use their local wall
for fun which is great, but Robert likes the competitive style of
climbing. It feels good when he has completed a hard route or climbed well
at a competition.
 Robert has been a competition climber
for six years. He has competed at local and national level and has made it
to the national finals every year. His best place was 5th in the UK. Last year the BMC asked him to trial for
the Junior British Squad. He climbed well and was accepted as a squad
member. This meant he would receive good coaching and perhaps make it to
team status in a year or two.
 At the BICC British Indoor Climbing
Championships 2004 he managed to finish in second place overall. This
meant that he was offered a place on the Junior British Competition
Climbing Team, finally getting to wear the coveted Union Jack team top and
competing for GB at a sport I excel at. As a member of the British Junior
Competition Climbing Team I have been selected to attend the Indoor
Climbing World Championships in Beijing China on 25th August this year, as
well as the European Youth Championships in Geneva, Switzerland in October
and Kranj, Slovenia in November.
 These competitions will be his first
Internationals and his first chance to compete for his country, competing
against representatives from more than 20 countries.
As a young Scottish climber he is very
proud of my country and it’s climbing history and looks forward to sharing
experiences and cultures with other young climbers from around the globe.
As a competitor, he looks forward to the
experience he will gain by going to these elite competitions. Inverness
Leisure have kindly given him free use of their climbing wall so he is
training 3-4 sessions a week.
Robert, whose mother Anthea is from
Thurso, has spent many holidays in Caithness. Unfortunately, due to his
increased training commitments, he does not get as much chance to return
North as he would like, but his grand-mother, Ethra, keeps everyone
up-to-date on his climbing achievements. |