[8] Collie’s 1899 discovery of the Cioch, a remarkable rock feature on the Coire Lagan flank of Sron na Ciche was followed by his first ascent of it with MacKenzie in 1906.Always alert, always cheerful, he was the perfect companion, but it was when the mist came swirling down on the wet rocks that his true worth was known.” [10] Crocket notes that in his career MacKenzie must have guided thousands of tourists and climbers without one recorded accident, a remarkable achievement for anyone working in such an unforgiving environment, arguably Britain’s most challenging range of hills.Like Collie, John MacKenzie never married; living with two spinster sisters, a niece and a nephew on his croft where he built a house in 1912 from his income from guiding.A ten-year project to raise £320,000 of funding to erect a bronze statue and memorial to John MacKenzie and Norman Collie on Skye was expected to be realised in 2017.[12] Designed by sculptor, Stephen Tinney, it was positioned and unveiled on a rocky knoll opposite the Sligachan Hotel, overlooking the Cuillin Hills in Sept 2020.
Climbers on the Cioch, Isle of Skye
The graves of
Norman Collie
(foreground), with John Mackenzie's immediately behind. Bracadale Free Church,
Struan
Norman Collie and John MacKenzie as old men
Bronze statue of John Mackenzie and Norman Collie at Sligachan, Island of Skye
Head of John MacKenzie (lef) and Norman Collie
MacKenzie and Collie looking towards Sgùrr nan Gillean
