Heartbreaking footage shows ‘waterfalls’ of nearly 3,000 bits of rubbish, including drink cans and Santa hats left by people on Yr Wyddfa Mountain, commonly known as Mount Snowdon.
The cascades of waste on Yr Wyddfa require urgent action, volunteers warn.
An “unprecedented” litter pick on the iconic mountain left volunteers in shock – as they realised they had only scratched the surface.
From a misplaced Santa hat to plastic bottles and rucksack covers – The British Mountaineering Council volunteers removed 2,765 items of litter from Yr Wyddfa during a two-day clean up.
Tom Carrick, BMC Access & Conservation Officer for Wales, emphasised the significance of this operation: “It’s been amazing to see this finally happen after nearly a year of planning after our initial conversations.
“We’ve had lots of positive conversations with members of the public walking up and enjoying their own day out.
“This I still believe is the start of this work, we will look at what we’d do differently in the future, but also how we bring this work out to changing our behaviours and attitudes about what we take into the mountains.
“For me, the most staggering realisation was the amount of single use plastic bottles within the gullies, I look forward to working with my colleagues across Eryri to begin to find a solution to encourage the use of reusable bottles on the mountainside.”
Over 63 percent of the items (1,737) found were single-use products – and the most prevalent brands included Lucozade, Redbull and CocaCola.
On the first day of the clean-up, the crew saw an expert abseiling team descend into the Trinity Gullies on Clogwyn Y Garnedd, a steep area on the north-east side of the mountain, to retrieve the ‘waterfall’ of rubbish that had accumulated over many years.
The event not only aimed to remove single-use pollution but also to educate and empower the outdoor community.
The team of volunteers, with support from the experts at Trash Free Trails, were encouraged to document their findings as part of the State of the Trails Report, contributing to broader environmental research and awareness.
Dom Ferris, Founder and Managing Director of Trash Free Trails, said: “Our mission is to connect people with nature through the simple yet meaningful act of removing single-use pollution from the places we love.
“One of our core values is that we never use blame, shame, guilt, or aggression. This principle is especially important when working on Yr Wyddfa.
“One of the reasons we use the term ‘single-use pollution‘ instead of ‘litter’ is because we have strong evidence that when these single-use products escape into the environment, they harm our wildlife, flora, and overall experience, thus meeting the definition of pollution.”
“A large percentage of what we’ve found in the gullies are single-use products. By focusing on single-use pollution and its effects, we have a real chance of making a difference.”
Despite the success of this clean-up, the BMC acknowledge that much more rubbish remains on Yr Wyddfa.
The organisation is committed to continuing their collaborative efforts to maintain the momentum of this project and ensure the ongoing preservation of the mountain’s ecology.
The work of volunteers does seem to be having some impact. Charlotte Hicklin recently climbed the mountain for charity and was impressed by the condition of the trail she took on.
She said: “I had heard about the litter, but I didn’t see a single bit of rubbish, it was so clean and well kept.
“The only thing I would say is there were no bins on the trail but everybody I encountered seemed to be packing their rubbish and taking it with them.”
The collaborative effort included partners Trash Free Trails, Plantlife, Eryri National Park, Cymdeithas Eryri, RAW Adventures, the Baron Hill Estate, and the Snowdon Mountain Railway.
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