Protecting the Peaks Together

Attention all 3 Peakers… Scafell Pike needs your help!

Nine times out of ten, Scafell Pike and the surrounding area looks like this…

However, after the longest weekend and a barrage of activity on the Pike it wasn’t looking so pretty…

Banana skins…
Human waste…
Random shelter building...
Random shelter building…
Mass cairn creation...
Mass cairn creation…
And a lot of rubbish in the car park...
And 16 bags of rubbish picked up in the car park…

Along with our volunteers we work really hard to keep Scafell Pike in tiptop shape and as England’s highest peak, it gets quite the hammering over the summer months. However, there are three really simple things that you can do to help us keep Scafell Pike sparkling and ensure that you have a terrific time…

1)  As a rule of thumb, whatever you take up the mountain in your rucksack, please bring back down. Plastic bottles, gel wrappers, fruit peel… why not invest in a re-usable water bottle? It’s multiple use will save on plastic waste. In addition, if you pack all your food in a lunch box, it doubles up as a handy receptacle for your wrappers, cores and peel. We don’t provide bins in Wasdale so please bring black bin bags with you on your challenge. Bag up your rubbish, hurl it in the back of your minibus and bin it when you get back home. In addition, you can join the latest social media campaign #mountainmagpie and be a mountain hero!
2) When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go…. check out this great article from UKHillwalking.com for everything you need to know about getting caught short and really needing the loo in the hills.

3) Our mountain paths are fragile and really need their stone coverage. Removing stones from the paths only hastens their erosion. Please resist the urge to create new cairns or add to current ones. Tramp up on the path and please leave the stones where they are!

So remember… 3 Peaks, 3 really simple guidelines. Have a terrific time on your challenge and help to prevent the Rangers from ranting!!