Andy Higson, Mountain Leader

Andy climbing on the Petit Flambeau in the Chamonix region of the French Alps.

“The hills reconnect us with nature... something we yearn for at a primal level”

What draws us outdoors? Why are we captivated by our natural surroundings? Why do we derive pleasure from a hard-earned summit? What are we running from? Or are we chasing after something?

I never pondered over these questions in my younger life. I had a great upbringing with two younger brothers. We were always outside – playing football, riding bikes, exploring the woods, or generally being mischievous on abandoned rail cuttings.  

This was well before computers became a household item, or mobile phones became accessible. A time where you planned your weekend well in advance, and if you didn’t make it to the agreed meeting point on time you missed the fun. Then came adulthood and the responsibility that goes with it. Relationships, work, the passing of family members, work, money worries, work, relationship troubles, work, work, work… and more work.  

I’m now pushing 40 and consider myself fortunate to have a good job, a loving wife and an adorable daughter. There was a period in my life, however, where life really wasn’t that much fun. I work as a civil engineer which is a high pressure job, and for much of my early career meant working away from home. I was never academic and progressed through an apprenticeship, so my pay wasn’t great either. Isolation and stress are not a good mix. I struggled with stress-related anxiety through the early part of my 20s. It was a very dark period in my life and I drank away the worries and piled on the pounds.

So, what changed? Mountains. I’d spent time with my youngest brother, Neil, climbing mountains and camping in my late teens before I moved away. On one interesting trip to Helvellyn we camped at Red Tarn in the sun, then awoke to a foot of snow (always check the weather forecast!). I’d spent many years reading and dreaming of scaling the world’s tallest mountains, but during my isolation those dreams lay dormant until, in around 2007, I got into martial arts which helped me get fit and improve my self-esteem. Then one morning… BOOM… the urge to climb mountains returned. But why?

I have a theory. Research suggests humans have been around for a few hundred thousand years, but only settled into societies around 10,000 years ago. The advance of technology between then and the mid-1700s was fairly slow. Then came the industrial revolution, flight and mass-production, leading to a relatively faster-paced life. But from the late 1980s onwards… Woosh! Mobiles, computers, internet, affordable cars, cheap flights...  

My theory is we’re living in a world that our minds haven’t evolved to cope with. We sit at desks, behind computers and fly around the world when, in our deep subconscious, we’re still living off the land. I believe that the pace and stress of modern life is exacerbating mental health issues. Getting out into the hills allows us to reconnect with nature, which is something I believe we yearn for at a primal level. 

The mountains have certainly helped me to find balance in my own stressful and fast-paced life.

Andy is the Director of Black Dog Outdoors, who are teaming up with Trail magazine and Mountains for the Mind in 2020 to provide free guided mountain walks for people experiencing mental health. Full details of how to join a walk HERE.