Fellwalking is one of the most popular outdoor activities in Britain. Every year, thousands of people leave the cities and make their way to one of our mountainous areas, be it the Lake District, Wales, the Peaks, the Yorkshire Dales, Scotland, or the North York Moors. It is often said that people find some form of greater contentment or satisfaction in these wild places, a method of soothing the stresses of modern living; in fact this is said so often that it has become a cliché.

Once you have had a taste of fellwalking, it becomes addictive. Many spend their winters wishing they were in the mountains, or planning their next trip. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people can only escape to the hills during a week or two over the summer, due to the constraints of location, career or family.

Coniston Hall campsite in high season: cramped and unpleasant

The mountains are not seen at their best during high season. The tourist centres are thronging with people, campsites are crammed to bursting point, and the eroded trails up popular fells are often strewn with litter. From a more aesthetic viewpoint, the mountains themselves often appear 'flat' and unnattractive due to bright noon sunlight and a choking carpet of green bracken. Midday sun on the tops can be merciless.

Wasdale Head is often overrun with 3-peakers during midsummer

For people who are lucky enough to have more spare time on their hands, our mountainous areas are best enjoyed at other times of the year. Spring in the Lake District is gorgeous, and the valleys often appear green and heavenly from the cold summits. There is nowhere more magical than Yewdale on a crisp autumn day, when the golden larches on Holme Fell catch the morning sunlight. And if you have the skills, winter can be more rewarding still, for there is no greater satisfaction than reaching the summit of a mountain in glorious, clear winter weather.

Many people are perfectly content with visiting the hills annually during summertime. But once you take the next step and make your next visit during a quieter time of year, you will never look back. Like me, you'll find yourself making the long journey to Betws-y-Coed, or Windermere, or Machynlleth, more and more often. Hillwalking is addictive ... but in a good way!

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It can be argued that mountain walking is the most worthwhile pastime of all. This is my view, and during the past couple of years I've entertained friends with my accounts of fellwalking trips in the past, and even managed to "convert" a few.

Fellwalking has many benefits. The most obvious one is that you will improve your physical fitness. Walking uphill every day for a week can do wonders for anyone. You will come away from your trip with hard muscles, a superbly-tuned sense of balance, and perhaps best of all you'll just feel great. This is, in my opinion, the most important "why?"--it makes you feel good.

Increasing your fitness feels good. The satisfaction in having climbed mountains and overcome physical and mental obstacles increases self-esteem. Walking on the roof of Britain among amazing scenery will give you memories to treasure for years to come. Camping makes you feel good, because there's great pleasure in sleeping in a tent, waking to a beautiful day in Langdale or Wasdale or Ogwen, cooking breakfast on your stove and then heading off into the mountains. But perhaps best of all, and this is one of the great things in life, is the sense of pure bliss that comes with that well-earned pint after a hard day in the fells.

It would be easy to think that fellwalking is all adventure and summits and epic scenery. The fact is that there will always be an ugly raincloud on the horizon, or a long and tiring walk-in, or a dangerous scree run to negotiate. Hiking uphill for hours is hard work for anyone, and if you're just having a bad day it can be truly painful. I have had awful times in the mountains. When it's been raining for days and all my gear is soaked, the cloud is down to 500 metres, the becks are angry torrents and the campsite is flooded, I sometimes wonder why I keep on doing this.

Mountain weather can be miserable

The reason is simple: you remember the good times. The exhiliaration of the summit is worth any amount of gruelling ascent, and it's possible to have fun even in the most atrocious weather. And sometimes I find it extraordinarily hard to remember details from less-than-perfect days. The bad memories fade away, leaving an almost utopian vision of the mountains in which the sun is always shining, you're never tired, and the views are always stunning. Memories like that are worth it!

The good memories sustain you through the dreary sameness of everyday life, and provide inspiration for future expeditions. And no matter how grim things may get, the good times always outweigh the bad.

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Arguably, the point where it all started for me was August 2004, on a backpacking trip to mid Wales with my brother. I'd been to Yorkshire and the Lakes many times already, but most of our walks had been in lower levels and to be honest I hadn't really thought about the hills. This time we were planning on doing some hiking in the Cadair Idris range. The summit wasn't specifically on our itinerary, because the weather forecast was poor and I had decided to be realistic about our capabilities.

Cadair Idris, from the road to Dôl Einion

We ended up doing an easy but very enjoyable hike up to Cwm Cau, the high corrie on the south face of the range. The next day, we started the journey back to Machynlleth where we would catch our return train, but I was haunted by images of the mountain. I soon began to put a more solid foundation beneath my plan for an epic "Terminal Trek", as I jokingly called it, scheduled for May 2005.

I had been thinking about this trek for over a year already, and for a long time believed that this would be my last trip to the hills, because soon after I would be heading off to university, and the rest of my life. I had accepted the fact that I could only make one visit to the mountains each year. But, as this website testifies, I was mistaken!

I seized the chance to take almost three weeks out of my job and do some solo trekking in the Lake District. That experience changed my life and had a profound impact on the person I am today. In short, it left an indelible impression in my memories and convinced me that, no matter what, I had to do more hillwalking in future. I caught the mountaineering bug on day one of the May trek.

Once you're hooked, there's no turning back. I went on a total of four trips in 2005, and I have nine, of varying lengths, planned for 2006. I travel by train (with discounted tickets) and camp, so the average cost of a one-week trip is somewhere in the order of £100 or less. People ask me if it's worth it, and of course I say yes every time!

I'm at university, which means I get long holidays at Christmas, Easter and over the summer. I intend to make full use of those holidays. I am also a member of the UEA Fell Club, which organises at least three weekend trips every semester. My first Fell trip was in November 2005 (read the report here), I plan to go on many others in the future.

How have the mountains changed my life? I've become fitter, more confident, and have higher self-esteem. I have developed a deep appreciation for our wild places, and for the organisations which help to conserve them (Fix The Fells does some excellent work in the Lakes). I have experienced some of the most rugged and beautiful places in Britain, been caught in a snowstorm in May, and felt the skin peel from my nose in the heat of the sun. But, despite the discomforts and the dangers, I have enjoyed it all and learned from the experience.

The mountains have helped me to become a better person. And in an increasingly cynical and hypocritical world, that is a precious thing.

Some things in life are priceless!

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