What a load of rubbish

An astonishing 488kgs of rubbish was lifted from the 3 most popular mountains in the UK during this years Real3Peaks Clean and Conserve event which took place on Saturday 4th October. Coordinated and led by committed members of the Mountain Training Association, it was no suprise to see a host of volunteers (many of them freelance instructors) turning out despite a dreadful forecast. Rubbish 1

A modest team headed out on Ben Nevis led by Richard Pyne, the brain child of this event. Between them they collected approximately 78 kg of "general waste" including the common culprits: bottles, tissues, banana skins, orange peel, sole units from boots and even the remainder of a pregnancy testing kit. The day didn't stop there as a couple of splinter groups managed a clean up the Carn Mor Dearg Arete, removing a further six bags of rubbish.

The most popular places for rubbish seemed to be areas of outcrops just off the paths where people choose to take a breather or snack stop. Richard said:

"A thing I'm often at pains to point out to people - this isn't stuff that's (for the most part) been dropped - this is stuff that has quite often been 'hidden' away in crevices, stuffed under or behind rocks, tucked into the summit cairn. This is litter that has, most certainly, been left on purpose."

Rubbish 2

Kelvyn James and the team from the Lakes had an eventful start due to the weather conditions but nevertheless managed a three pronged approach of Scafell Pike with teams starting at Wasdale, Seathwaite and Langdale. They found a marble memorial cemented to the summit, beer bottles, bananas and a bizarre number of socks.

Kate and Ross Worthington from RAW Adventures, a local business within Snowdonia, led the Snowdon effort. 22 volunteers met bright and early at the train station for the Snowdon Mountain Railway who had kindly offered all involved a free ride to the summit to start the day, which in itself made the day worthwhile.

They found frilly knickers, 25+ year old cans of pop, tents, trilbies and over 400 plastic bottles. A truly superb combined effort with the full support of the Snowdonia Society Parc and Cenedlaethol Eryri - Snowdonia National Park. The day was finished off with a very helpful pick up from Pen y Pass by the Kent Mountain Centre.

All teams did a fabulous job of sorting and recylcing, which leaves us to just say a huge THANK YOU to the volunteers and supporting organisations who promoted and supported the event.