Like the (in)famous fashion model who "doesn't get out of bed for less than £10,000", my teenage son took some persuading to get out into the hills with me !
The solution, both for him - and I suspect for many others - is to make the payoff worth it.
So what makes a day out in the mountains 'worth it' ? Well, it helps if the scenery is spectacular, but what really does it is delivering that dash of adernaline that makes you feel 'alive'. And at the end of the day (assuming you have survived), you want to feel that you have really achieved something - something that will stay in your (and their) memory for weeks, months - or hopefully for years to come.
In Sam's case, that meant migrating from offering 'just walking' - to discovering, planning and executing the biggest, meanest, scariest and most exciting mountain walks and scrambles in Britain!
Where better to find these than in the Highlands of Scotland. The wildest region of Europe, with some of the most iconic views, breathtaking arrettes and satisfying scree runs.
We've had so much fun that we've now set up a new blog : "Highland Scrambler"
http://highlandscrambler.wordpress.com/ , which aims to share the highs and highs of the very best of these mountain ridges. Take a look at the first set of reports, add your own comments and scrambling experiences, and please do send me your posts and routes on what makes you come alive in the mountains. What have I missed ? Where's your adrenaline playground ?
Just maybe we can build a library good enough to get anyone out of bed - even a supermodel or teenager!