Many of you will have seen the lead article encouraging entrants to take up the Welsh 3000 14 peaks challenge. Written by Will Legon who runs an outdoor adventure business which among other activities offers guiding for groups who presumably feel unable to accomplish this walk without. I have no reason to believe that Will Legon feels he is not providing a worthwhile service and that by enabling access to outdoor activity to a wider participatory group is providing a useful social function.
Whilst I would not wish to discourage participation in outdoor pursuits there is a tendency to promote specific so called challenges to the point where the sheer quantity of participants creates problems.
You will recall the mass influx of people who travelled all on the same day to walk up Snowdon on the weekend before the travel restriction enforcement was put in place which as a consequence led to the closure of our national parks. The pressure placed on our open spaces and particular areas and locations can become overwhelming and environmentally unsustainable when too many people are attempting to participate in an event at the same time.
Certain occasions such as the viewing the rising sun from the top of Yr Wyddfa on the solstice are highly promoted by companies offering guidance, or mass, ostensibly charitable, events ecouraging huge numbers to participate in one outdoor challenge or another will flood an area. This kind of mass participation, however well meant, when concentrated on a particular goal on a particular day or period of time and the increasing number of such promoted events is a problem.
I don't imagine that the organisers or participants would wish that they were contributing towards the destruction of the natural environment and perhaps a little more forethought into the manner, timing and location of such would help avoid the sort of overcrowding that has become such a blight. There are many areas within our national parks and outdoor spaces that can offer equal or even greater challenges than just those which are currently the target, as there are 365 days per year for them to take place.
