Abbie Robinson

Abbie is a British paraclimbing world champion. As the first blind woman ever to represent Britain in a climbing competition, she travelled to France and Austria to compete with paraclimbers from around the world. She came home with two gold medals hanging from her neck, glinting in the sun as it set over the Wear.

Abbie started going to Sunderland climbing wall when she was 13 years old. She slotted her feet into intricate shapes and felt held by the people who stopped her from falling. As she got older, she began to find it difficult to see the boulders in front of her. The bright colours of the holds began to fade. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition causing the gradual loss of her central vision. Abbie was afraid, but she loved climbing and vowed not to let anything stop her.

In 2017, she joined the British paraclimbing team. She climbs with a guide wearing a headset who describes the size, shape and placement of each hold that Abbie encounters. Abbie puts her trust in her body and relies on her memory and spatial awareness to pull herself to great heights. She translates her guide’s descriptions into shapes in her imagination, which help her move her body through the world.

Abbie loves climbing because of the ways it brings different kinds of people together and helps them to grow strong. She is working towards representing Britain in the Paralympics one day.