Schoolboy James sets sights on Everest conquest
They are statistics many seven year-olds know from their work at school.
But one Waterford city youth knows just what it’s like to actually scale to such heights. And now the avid climber, who has just turned eight, has set his sights on scaling Mount Everest.
By the time he returned to school at Scoil Lorcain in St John’s Park last month, James Kennedy had become the youngest person ever to make a winter ascent of Carrauntoohil. He hopes the feat, and others, will get him into the Guinness Book of Records.
The gutsy youngster followed up the record-breaking achievement by climbing to the summit of the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland.
The remarkable youngster is the second youngest of a family of four and son of Margaret and Jimmy Kennedy, a builder from St John’s Park in Waterford city. His new goal is to climb Everest and to play senior rugby for Munster.
At the age of six James first started talking about climbing mountains and inspired by his hero, his parents’ friend and adopted uncle Johnnie Walker, a well-known climber, he wanted to know when he could climb the highest mountain in the world.
His first outing was to the Comeraghs when the then six-year old learned that there was much more to mountaineering than just climbing. “We ran into a ferocious hail storm but he was undeterred by the cold, the wet or the difficult underfoot conditions,” said Johnnie.
They took further trips to the Comeraghs and the Knockmealdown mountains. Despite severe wettings and a couple of nasty falls, James refused to give up on the idea of mountaineering.
All the time the youngster who had now turned seven was carrying his own equipment and learning the hazards of climbing.
To keep motivated, they adopted the motto of their rugby heroes: “Munster men never give up.”
Mr Walker went on to pay tribute to Margaret and James Kennedy for having the courage and belief in him to allow their son to be part of something with significant risk for a seven-year old. However, he said that none of it was forced on James — everything was by his own choice.
His granny, Margaret, is thrilled with his feats. “He’s a special little boy and we are so, so proud of him.”
His mother also Margaret, said she will be applying to have his feats recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. “He wants to get into the record books and we will be doing what we can to ensure he does.”
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