Mountain clearing effort tackles rubbish dumped on Ben Nevis and beyond

The bin on the Ben. Sounds like a catchy title for a movie or a song, perhaps.

Instead, it was the rather unpleasant reality of the emergency shelter on Ben Nevis in October 2019, when the Real3Peaks Challenge (R3PC) volunteers reached the summit on their annual clean-up.

A group of pals had played a trick on a friend, stolen his bin, taken it to the top of Britain’s highest mountain and left it in the shelter – all filmed and posted on YouTube.

R3PC founder Rich Pyne says: “They thought it would be a great idea to leave it there for folks to put their rubbish in. All it did was encourage people to leave stuff behind, which they did.

“The food waste inside was rancid, smelled extremely strong and was obviously a hazard to health.”

The bin and its contents were among 115kg of rubbish cleared from the mountain by 10 volunteers in the last major R3PC before lockdown.

It was among 30 locations cleared on the same day, 22 in Scotland, in a challenge that has been expanding steadily since the first in 2013.

It was launched by mountain guide Pyne after he began filling a bag with rubbish on his way down Ben Nevis with a group.

He recalls: “I was appalled at the amount of litter. I had been grumbling about the mess on the way down till someone said, ‘Why don’t you do something about it?’ So I did.”

The name is a nod to the Three Peaks Challenge, which sees visitors travel between and climb the highest mountain in each of Scotland, England and Wales – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon – usually in a day. He adds: “The highest mountains were chosen to highlight the litter issues as they are household names and are recognisable to most.”

The challenge, though, has expanded far beyond Britain’s top peaks. In 2019, it included three locations in Glen Coe, the Fairy Pools on Skye, Loch Brandy, and Lochnagar.

Litter has included an ornamental windmill and a 4ft wooden cross. The good news is that the amount of litter on Ben Nevis does seem to be declining – from 230kg in 2013 to 115kg in 2019, although 2016 showed a bit of a spike at 267kg.

This decline has been helped by the reduction in charity stunts – where people carry unusual items up and leave them – while reusable water bottles are making a difference to the number of their throwaway alternatives.

The bad news is that the majority of waste now left behind is used tissues, tampons and human waste – some of which even the litter pickers can’t solve.

It’s not hard to see why Rich, 49, is so passionate about the mountain – it is, after all, pretty much his office. He moved to Scotland in 2013 and now lives in Kinlochleven, running a company with his wife Monika called Rich Mountain Experiences. And while he guides mountain trips all over the UK, Ben Nevis is a regular, being just up the road.

During lockdown, the litter-picking event was held on a much smaller scale but this year – the 10th version of the challenge – the event was much bigger.

He adds: “I would like to see more youngsters involved – after all, it is their future we are investing in. I am hoping that I can grow this event to include education in schools. This is a work in progress.”