The Pyg and Miners Paths up Snowdon are now in a much cleaner condition following a huge litter clean by volunteers, organised by the Snowdonia Society with support from BMC Cymru.

A nice sunny November morning at Pen y Pass saw over 40 volunteers turn up to assist with a litter pick around the Glaslyn and Llydaw lakes, as well as along the PyG and Miners Paths up Snowdon. The event had been organised by the Snowdonia Society, with support from BMC Cymru, but also had support from students from Bangor Univeristy (who even travelled by a specially chartered bus to Pen y Pass!), and Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. National Park and Countryside Council for Wales staff and volunteers also turned out to help.

In all over 40 bags of litter were removed from the mountain, much of it litter that had been unneccessarily dumped on the mountain by walkers and tourists. The most commonly found items were plastic water bottles, with literally hundreds removed from the shoreline of Llyn Glaslyn.

Amongst other items removed were many cartidges of rusting smoke canisters, unfortunate by-products of essential operations by search & rescue helicopters. Also removed were several large white bags that had been used by the National Park to carry rocks for path building on the mountain, which had been blown down the mountain by winds. Amongst the more unusual items were footballs and tennis balls, as well as the expected items of rotting lost clothing, such as single gloves, hats and gaiters.

Once off the mountain the litter was sorted, with all plastic and glass seprated from general waste and sent for re-cycling.

A debt of thanks is alsoowed to the staff at Caban Pen y Pass cafe who provided the volunteers with a well earned soup and refreshments after their hard work.

It's unfortunately too much to expect the mountain to stay litter free for long, with over 700,000 people walking its paths each year, and many not realising the damage and impact their discarded litter causes.

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