In The Times today was a supplement looking at the twenty best walks in Britain as chosen by some random journalists with an interest in walking, who had at some point in their life probably walked near the routes selected. I saw this feature advertised on the TV last night, and the majority of people in the advert were thoroughly ill equipped for a proper walk up a mountain. However the majority of the walks were mere strolls around the lowlands.
In at number nine though, mainly due to the order of where it was in the UK, rather than quality was Snowdon via the PYG track, which at first I was delighted to see because it is good to encourage tourist to the area. However, I was caught twixt the devil and the deep blue sea, as whilst I would encourage people that Snowdon can make an awesome walk, it has killed 5 people this year, and last bank holiday monday (5 days ago) the local rescue team came to the assistance of 5 people in separate incidents in just one day.
So where in the Times best walks in the UK guide to Snowdon via the PYG track is the necessary safety information. In fact I really couldn’t find any in the supplement as a whole. Snowdon is a dangerous mountain for the ill equipped and inexperience. In fact David Aaronovitch the routes ‘author’ appears not to have been up their since the age of 13 in 1967, if he had done it recently or looked at a map he’d know the route actually was up the Miner’s track and down the pyg track, and that it is a nicer walk the other way around! They use ‘walking worlds‘ description of the route. This really is poor journalism, and potentially very dangerous. It doesn’t even mention that the PYG track is so named after the Pen Y Gwryd, where they advise people to stay.
If you know the area the Pen y Gwryd is an isolated pub/hotel, whereas come to Llanberis at the foot of Snowdon, there are plenty of places to stay within view of the mountain, as rather than fight to find parking and get ticketed like over twenty people today, you can get a sherpa bus/park and ride from the village to Pen Y Pass, making the day even simpler!
This is on par with Trail describing Crib Coch as an easy walk! I am sure that someone form Llanberis Mountain Rescue team will raise the issue.
It is a shame as I am sure if they asked the team, they would have provide the necessary safety advice, in fact I am sure that you can find it on their website. So whilst the Times did Snowdonia a great service in advertising it as a great destination, I do fear that their complete lack of safety advice may backfire, and seeing that I am one of the team of volunteers that have to step in and pick up the pieces my concern is that it will lead to an even greater number of call outs, we are already around 40 incidents on Snowdon this year.
Whilst well conceived a thorough shite piece of journalism by the Times.