Boy, six, in Lakes peak challenge

The youngster says he enjoys the descents most

A six-year-old boy is attempting to climb every Lake District peak mentioned in the Wainwright guidebooks.

Tom Fryers and his father Paul, of Sheffield, started the challenge in 2005 and they hope to have completed all 214 fells by the end of this year.

The youngster climbed his first "Wainwrights", Loft Crag and Pike o'Stickle, aged just three.

The pair are raising cash for the Sheffield Hospitals Charitable Trust and Community Action Nepal.

Tom said: "If we succeed I will be one of the youngest people to have done it and my dad will be worn out.

"I have loved climbing mountains ever since I climbed my first Wainwrights.

It is a remarkable achievement - I don't think I was anything like as fit as he is when I was six Paul Fryers

"I like going down the mountains the most but I also like being at the top."

He set out on tackling the peaks by taking on Loft Crag, which is 2,230ft (680m) high, and Pike o'Stickle, which is even loftier at 2,323ft (709m).

Mr Fryers said his son was born prematurely and raising funds for the trust was a way to say thank you to the hospital staff who cared for him.

He said: "We have done well over 100,000ft (30.48km) of ascent this year.

"It is generally 10 to 14 miles a day and he won't let me have a rest day, so I'm getting exhausted and he's just getting fitter and fitter.

"It is a remarkable achievement and a fantastic treat for me. I've done quite a lot of walking but I don't think I was anything like as fit as he is when I was six."

Alfred Wainwright produced seven pictorial guides to the Lakeland Fells during a 13-year period from 1955.

Since then, the series has sold almost two million copies.