30-07-2025
Wales' highest mountain risks becoming a 'deathtrap for animals'
Wales' highest mountain has become a 'reverse vending machine' in which dropped or discarded litter is killing local wildlife, a campaigner has claimed. Dom Ferris, founder of Trash Free Trails (TTT), spoke out as climbing experts prepare to scale inaccessible areas of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) to remove 'waterfalls' of rubbish.
The Big Clean Up Yr Wyddfa returns tomorrow (Thursday, July 31) to tackle an issue that's been blighting the mountain for decades. Some litter, blown from the peak, has collected in steep gullies that are too dangerous to be reached by anyone other than specialist climbers.
Everything from sleeping bags to drink cans have steadily accumulated in the Trinity Gullies on the northeast side of Yr Wyddfa. Looking like streams of rubbish cascading down from the peak, it's thought some items may have been there for 100 years.
Tomorrow morning, a team of climbers will catch the first train on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis. They will then abseil down a cliff face to reach the gullies on Clogwyn Y Garnedd.
The team will have been briefed by Plantlife Cymru to limit the damage to rare Alpine plants, some of which have become established within the waste streams.
Ecologist Robbie Blackhall-Miles said microplastic pollution is having 'serious impacts' on the mountain's fragile ecosystem.
Yr Wyddfa's littering, and the damage it causes, is being used to underpin calls for Deposit Return Schemes (DRS), where people bring back used drinks containers.
TTT's Dom Ferris said the group's research has shown that a fifth of animal interactions with litter ends in death. 'Our volunteers are increasingly finding examples of this occurring when an animal gets trapped inside a bottle or can,' he said.
'We know from European case studies that a DRS can eradicate a whole category of litter from our trails overnight. Why are we allowing beloved hiking spots such as Snowdon to be the alternative to a reverse vending machine?'
The three-day clean-up, organised by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), ends on Saturday, August 2.
On that day, 40 volunteer walkers will hike up the Pyg Track to the upper Glaslyn bowl above Llyn Glaslyn, the lake beneath the Trinity Gullies. There, they will analyse and bag up litter removed by the climbers.
Launched last year, the 2024 event saw 2,765 items of litter removed by climbers and volunteers. Analysis showed:
62% of items removed were single-use products
More than 800 plastic water bottles were collected
Lucozade, Red Bull, Coca Cola and Monster were the most common brands removed from the Trinity Wall gullies and the popular Miner's Path.
Tom Carrick, BMC access and conservation officer for Wales, said gullies beneath the peak were natural debris traps.
'We're not talking about deliberate fly-tipping,' he said. 'Rubbish can be dropped accidentally by anyone, however careful they are, and blown away into these gullies.
'It's important to emphasise that everyone is welcome in the outdoors and the vast majority of the 600,000 people visiting Yr Wyddfa each year have great respect for the mountains and the environment – they would never dream of discarding any litter on purpose.'
Also on Saturday, the BMC will have an information tent at Pen-y-Pass, a popular starting point for Yr Wyddfa ascents. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
Visitors can take part in a 'rubbish raffle' or 'trail clean bingo cards' with the chance of winning Deuter backpacks – awarded for picking the most litter or having the 'most single-use-plastic-free lunches'.
