I write in response to some of the proposals in the above initiative where I am convinced that the actual needs of mountaineers and climbers, particularly during winter, have not been fully thought through. As was no doubt proved to you during the recent foot and mouth epidemic, rural areas such as Snowdonia and the Lake District are almost completely dependent upon tourism for their income and those tourists will not visit if access to the mountains and lakes is impossible or made too difficult. However, unlike the Foot & Mouth access fiasco where we were all in the same boat, if these proposals go ahead, Snowdonia’s financial loss may well be the Lake District’s gain.

I have read your proposals though fully and have in the past seen similar though less Draconian ones suggested for the Lake District. Thankfully it was realised in time that these would not work in practice and they were dropped.

Having lived in North Wales for four years as a student at Bangor University, I can say that one of the reasons that climbers might not be spending much in North Wales is that North Wales does not always provide what they are after. Look at a pub like the Heights in Llanberis for an example of a thriving business that draws in climbers and walkers. Pete’s Eats in the same town is another good example, as is Eric’s Café at Tremadog. I don’t know what it is like now but in the early 80s there was a café at South Stack, Gogarth near Holyhead. This is a major area for climbing in north Wales, but the café proprietors at the time were not very friendly to climbers and after a couple of visits we never bothered going back despite numerous more days spent in the area. They missed a good marketing opportunity there and I suspect that the same could be said for many other local businesses.

Mountaineers, Rock Climbers, Canoeists and Para-Gliding enthusiasts often have large quantities of equipment with them that need to be transported. Not easy on a bus, especially if you are planning on doing several activities. Their plans may well involve making a very early start, say leaving the road at 4am for a winter ascent of an ice climb on Clogwyn dur D’Arddu (Cloggy, on Snowdon). It is highly likely that they may not return to the road until say 1am the following morning. Will your buses be running at such times and if so will they be running at such regular intervals and in all weathers so as to make sure that your clients do not freeze to death from hypothermia whilst waiting at a bus-stop at 3am? I very much doubt this would be possible financially.

Such a scenario is not uncommon. Last winter in Scotland, a typical winter’s day ice-climbing involved myself and my partner leaving our car at 5am at a small car park near Beinn Eighe, walking through heavy snow for 4 hours, climbing 10 rope-lengths of  hard technical climbing to arrive on the summit around 9pm. It was 1.30 am by the time we had regained the road, wet, cold and completely exhausted. Waiting for a bus for an hour would have been serious in the freezing conditions. And it is impossible to predict what time one will return. The climb we did was one that is much sought after by winter climbers all over the UK but it is one that is seldom in good condition. We had to strike instantly when we knew conditions were right and I can say with certainty that none of what we achieved would have been possible if relying on public transport. There are many such winter climbs in Snowdonia and there are many people wanting to attempt them. They will all be severely affected by such proposals.

A lot of climbing involves “going and having a look” ie getting as close as possible the mountain, working out what you are going to do and then leaving the rest of the kit in your car. So for instance, one might plan a day’s ice climbing, get to the parking spot at 5am, realise that it’s thawing and decide to do a long mountain walk instead. Back into the boot go the ropes, harnesses, plastic boots and ice climbing tools and out come the walking boots and long axes. What facilities will your buses have for storing un-needed equipment to be collected later? Or for waiting while passengers make up their minds?

I only go into this in detail because climbers make up a large proportion of the tourists that you wish to attract and yet your proposals are likely to turn them away to other venues.

Finally can anyone tell me what environmental damage a parked car does? There are loads of graveled pull-in type lay-bys around Snowdonia that answer the needs of climbers. Those along the Ogwen Valley are superb examples. They are low maintenance roadside car-parks. There are no tarmac, ticket machines, street lamps, concrete kerbs, notices, or fluorescent jacketed parking attendants to spoil the scene. Admittedly there are parked cars, but these will go at the end of the day, leaving no trace. They are no more visibly polluting than the cars passing by on the main A5 road, (or indeed the cars that are no doubt parked in your own office car park and in which many of you drive to work each day). And the more such pull-ins you make, the less likely it is that traffic will drive round and round looking for somewhere to park. If you wish to charge for entry to the park then why not issue tickets at the entrance and charge on exit. The first hour or two could be free to allow for through traffic. Local residents would need exemption and there would have to be a reasonable maximum (or an exemption) to allow users of Climbing Club Huts and Outdoor Centres such as Plas-y-Brenin to stay for a week or two without getting severely penalised. You could still have your car parks and your bus service and I am sure if the price structure was correct, the majority of people would use it.

I urge you to rethink these draconian measures which are likely to have a severe negative impact, not only on the income generated by climbers visiting Wales but also on Snowdonia a forcing ground at the leading edge of British mountaineering.

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