Bounce above over Snowdon
OVER the years Snowdon’s volunteer litter pickers have collected tonnes of discarded items from Wales’ highest mountain, mostly a motley assortment of crisp packets, plastic bottles, cans and carrier bags.
But every now and again they come across something quirky or just downright bizarre.
A few years ago a litter team found part of a trampoline at the summit. They carried it down the mountain – but not before having a quick bounce.
A member of that team was volunteer warden Tony, who also recalls finding several dumbbells on the mountain, presumably left by a fitness fanatic too weary to carry them down.
This autumn Keith, a mountain leader and warden, found a set of false teeth left on a rock next to the Llanberis Path.
It left him with a dilemma. “We had to decide whether to leave them in case someone realised their absence!” he said.
One litter team unearthed a toy axe on the Carneddau, another stumbled across a discarded tuxedo on Snowdon.
Getting involved in the annual clean-ups is litter picker Jacob, from Snowdon’s Pen y Pass Youth Hostel, whose 2018 findings included a glass jar containing “some sort of alien life form”.
“Turns out it was an ancient jar of pickles that had been sunbleached to a creepy translucent white colour!” he said.
Commonly found alongside footpaths – and elsewhere – are abandoned clothes, from trousers to fleeces and loads of gloves.
Usually there’s plenty of underwear too, including knickers, bras and underpants. Not all are soiled but those that are present a serious hygiene challenge – not just to litter pickers but also to walkers who take shelter in bad weather.
One mountain leader’s annual haul of hats continues a tradition which dates back to Victorian times.
Each year Stephen retrieves a selection of headwear from Cwm Hetiau – the Valley of the Hats – below Clogwyn Station.
It got its name from 19th century farmers who would often find (and keep) hats that had blown off the heads of railway passengers. Even now hats still float into the valley as walkers wearily trudge the ridge above the cwm.
Snowdon’s litter pickers are used to bagging bananas, bottles, beer cans and everything in between – but a different type of rubbish is currently vexing the mountain’s walkers.
In recent months race organisers have come under fire for leaving trails of plastic when they leave – usually route markers such as signs, fluorescent arrows and yards of billowing tape.
To mark some routes, glow sticks or plastic ribbons are used and left behind instead.
Event organisers say that without route signage, the safety of participants could be compromised. Some also point out that signs are occasionally removed or relocated by mischievous locals.
To combat the problem, Snowdonia National Park Authority has issued a set of guidelines advising against the use of tape or spray.
And so that the culprits can be traced, from 2020 organisers will also be asked to use small signs that are marked with their names.
For SNPA access officer Peter Rutherford, there is one form of littering that is particularly unsavoury.
“Increasingly we are seeing little grey piles on the mountain,” he said.
“People want to scatter the ashes of loved ones on Snowdon but it can be upsetting for others who suddenly discover they are stopping for lunch next to cremated remains.”