This week, the Snowdonia National Park Authority called for people to stay away from the hills of Snowdonia due to winter conditions. The advice has not gone down well.
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Brilliant response from Llanberis MRT:
"The Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team do not, and never will, endorse the advice given yesterday by the Snowdonia National Park Authority in relation to avoiding the mountains of Snowdonia at any time of the year.
"Hazards exist on any mountain, but it is not the role of our mountain rescue team to decide when these mountains are 'safe'. As with all risk, changing mountain hazards can be mitigated by personal experience, route choice, equipment, weather and ground conditions.
"The ethos of mountain rescue was, and remains, that of 'mountaineers helping other mountaineers' and we will continue to turn out to people who feel they need our help without judgment. And, we'll all be out over the next few days making the most of the conditions!
The only quote from the Snowdonia National Park Authority in your article is -"Although Snowdonia's snow-covered mountains are very pretty to look at, conditions on the ground itself are extremely dangerous. We kindly ask those who are thinking about going out in these conditions to seriously consider if they are willing to put their own lives and others' at risk."
I don't think this equates to "Snowdonia is Closed" as your headline states.
> The only quote from the Snowdonia National Park Authority in your article is -"Although Snowdonia's snow-covered mountains are very pretty to look at, conditions on the ground itself are extremely dangerous. We kindly ask those who are thinking about going out in these conditions to seriously consider if they are willing to put their own lives and others' at risk."
> I don't think this equates to "Snowdonia is Closed" as your headline states.
Quite.
I think some people are deliberately misinterpreting this for their own agenda.
Every winter, people are criticised for going up Snowdon, etc. ill equipped and end up needing rescuing. I just see this as a request for such people to think twice about their actions.
> “The first layer of snow has now frozen and compacted, and with the accumulation of fresh snow there is a high likelihood of avalanches,” a spokesperson said.
> "In these conditions mountaineers should stay off the slopes of Snowdon and other peaks until the Met Office’s red warning for snow conditions, which is the most severe warning, has been downgraded. Once conditions have improved, anyone who ventures onto the hills must have the appropriate experience and skills and all the necessary equipment."
https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2019/01/31/stay-off-snowdonias-mountains-...
Took a while to find, a shame the original article didn't link to anything
A very badly worded bit of advice though I think, as it seems to equate going out at all with putting others at risk, with no reference to preparedness. I'd be more inclined to listen to the BMC and MR voices in this. I doubt local businesses will be thanking the NP authority either
> A very badly worded bit of advice though I think, as it seems to equate going out at all with putting others at risk, with no reference to preparedness. I'd be more inclined to listen to the BMC and MR voices in this. I doubt local businesses will be thanking the NP authority either
Looking at the Grough article I would agree with you.
However, the UKC Thread Title is bordering on the Mailesque.
The SNPA haven't said that the park is closed so, unless you can quote the exact wording that backs up your headline, please be less like the Mail Online and more like a diligent journalist.
Fair point. I'm multitasking, which as we all know is shorthand for doing several jobs poorly.
But I didn't say Snowdon Causes Cancer so I'd take exception to being likened to the Mail
> But I didn't say Snowdon Causes Cancer so I'd take exception to being likened to the Mail
Can you prove it DOESN'T cause cancer though?
Bogus Asylum Seeking Foreign Winter Weather Disproves Global Warming
> Bogus Asylum Seeking Foreign Winter Weather Disproves Global Warming
You forgot Diana.
> But I didn't say Snowdon Causes Cancer so I'd take exception to being likened to the Mail
Although the local granite contains crystals of allanite-(Ce) which can be radioactive...
It's PC (Parc Cenedlaethol) Gone Mad
> You forgot Diana.
That’s the Express. Don’t you know your tabloids better than that?
I guess it is a forgivable sin.
> But I didn't say Snowdon Causes Cancer so I'd take exception to being likened to the Mail.
Shouldn't that be 'Mount Snowdon Causes Cancer'?
I think it needs to be as harsh, it not harsher in its tone. That way the trainers and carrier bag brigade will be put off, those with more experience, better equipment etc will make their own decision either way.
There are people living in certain parts of the uk who just have no concept of what it will be like trudging through half metre of snow in -5c, plus the wind on top. Their world grinds to a halt with 3cm of slush.
Flamed!!! They could of course encourage low level routes etc.. no one was suggesting the hills were closed and their statement had a different tone to ukcs click bait thread title. Bit cheap for ukc. Imho.
> although the people who got helicoptered this week were climbers avalanches out of a gully rather than the people you refer too...
I wasn't referring to climbers or that accident. I'm talking about people who don't even have basic clothing or navigational skills etc.. any way not going to waste my time debating it. It's just my view. Those with the skills won't be put off or deterred.
> The only quote from the Snowdonia National Park Authority in your article is -"Although Snowdonia's snow-covered mountains are very pretty to look at, conditions on the ground itself are extremely dangerous. We kindly ask those who are thinking about going out in these conditions to seriously consider if they are willing to put their own lives and others' at risk."
> I don't think this equates to "Snowdonia is Closed" as your headline states.
You have plenty of likes and 1 dislike (not me) for this, however it is simply confusing to me because you appear to have actually selected your supporting text from the grough article and not UKC.
The headline of the grough article is
“BMC and rescuers criticise 'unprecedented' Snowdonia 'closed mountains' message”
This link was omitted by Dan of UKC, but otherwise I don’t know why he climbed down in response to an even more harsh comment from Frank the Husky about being a diligent journalist etc.
The 'closed' phrase was Dan's original title for the ukc thread. He changed it after the above comments.
Thanks for the clarification.
Changing a thread title by UKC mid thread just hides the problem and makes a nonsense of many contributions.
An explanation post from the UKC would have been nice. I am left curious as to what the original UKC title was now.
> An explanation post from the UKC would have been nice. I am left curious as to what the original UKC title was now.
Killer Mountain Mount Snowdon Closed To UKC Numpties and Other Like Minded Idiots
Nannies Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri
Don't even think about conquering Mount Snowdon in this snowmageddon
> I just see this as a request for such people to think twice about their actions.
It was a press release issued by the SNPA saying "mountaineers should stay off the slopes of Snowdon and other peaks until the Met Office’s red warning for snow conditions, which is the most severe warning, has been downgraded". Which is a bit strange as there is and was no red warning for snow conditions. And of course is a little more than "be careful folks".
Grough reported it, as did TGO (though their article has been updated following the fuss). And the BMC clearly saw it as well.
We were in Snowdonia this weekend, and the hills were as busy as I've ever seen them in winter, so luckily the original message has been largely ignored (or more likely, most people never saw it).
> > I just see this as a request for such people to think twice about their actions.
> It was a press release issued by the SNPA saying "mountaineers should stay off the slopes of Snowdon and other peaks until the Met Office’s red warning for snow conditions, which is the most severe warning, has been downgraded". Which is a bit strange as there is and was no red warning for snow conditions. And of course is a little more than "be careful folks".
> Grough reported it, as did TGO (though their article has been updated following the fuss). And the BMC clearly saw it as well.
> We were in Snowdonia this weekend, and the hills were as busy as I've ever seen them in winter, so luckily the original message has been largely ignored (or more likely, most people never saw it).
Maybe UKC should have reported it as such originally and therefore avoided being likened to the Daily Mail?
> I think it needs to be as harsh, it not harsher in its tone. That way the trainers and carrier bag brigade will be put off, those with more experience, better equipment etc will make their own decision either way.
I used to have a friend who was a real gear freak. For some time I used to carry all my stuff in carrier bags to wind him up. I once walked a couple of miles to a crag with him with all my climbing stuff in a big cardboard box.