Charity Hikers Face Booing After Skipping Queues on Yr Wyddfa
Two charity hikers who bypassed queues to reach the summit of Yr Wyddfa have expressed their frustration at being booed by other walkers.
Jamie Richardson, 32, and Richard Thiedeman, 34, avoided what they described as "Alton Towers-like" queues while hiking different routes up the mountain on Sunday. Upon reaching the summit and tapping the trig point to complete their charity challenge, they were met with jeers from those waiting in line.
The pair, from Lincolnshire, had previously climbed Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike as part of their attempt to complete the Three Peaks challenge, raising funds for their friend Thomas Hynes, who is living with motor neurone disease (MND).
"There's no policing of it at all, it is purely free will, if you want to queue you can," Richardson said.
Visitors to Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, have reportedly waited over an hour to reach the trig point, which stands at 1,085m (3,560ft) high.
On social media, some described the scenes at Yr Wyddfa during the bank holiday weekend as having a carnival atmosphere.
Challenge Route and Timing
Richardson and Thiedeman aimed to complete the Three Peaks challenge within 24 hours. They travelled from Lincolnshire to Scotland to climb Ben Nevis, then proceeded to England for Scafell Pike before arriving in Wales to hike Yr Wyddfa at 05:00 BST on Sunday.
Upon reaching Yr Wyddfa, the pair chose different routes up the mountain. They described the atmosphere during their ascent as "friendly" with everyone in "good spirits."
Other walkers noticed the duo walking for approximately 40 minutes from a separate car park and offered them a lift to the trailhead. Some hikers also offered kind words and donations during the climb.
Thiedeman said, "There were two young ladies that saw us walking and saw all the charity labels we had on us. They were very kind and were able to give us a ride to the start of the trail."
Summit Experience and Reactions
After reaching the summit, the pair chose to bypass the queue, as they intended only to touch the summit and then descend.
Thiedeman explained, "Knowing what I've just been through with the other two mountains, I was really exhausted. I just needed to get it over with, I'm in the sun, I'm getting sunburned. I just need to tap [the trig point] and leave."
Richardson recounted an incident where another hiker attempted to physically prevent him from reaching the trig point.
"I'm up to the third mountain, I'm physically exhausted, it was 20 odd degrees. No shade or anything," he said. "I was physically struggling. I wanted to just go up and touch the summit and get myself down. I was getting booed and then there was a gentleman who was at the top, who had just had his photo taken and he physically tried to stop me."
He added that after touching the summit point, he heard someone say, "you should be ashamed of yourself."
Thiedeman added, "If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. Instead they were trying to belittle the attempts of people they don't even know. When I'm wearing a T-shirt that you can see what this person's hiking for... surely anybody at the summit of a mountain deserves a cheer and a well done? I was coming up feeling proud and then I'm being booed, so now I'm really angry and I'm not focused on being proud. Whatever anybody's belief or approach is, you don't boo somebody else because they don't have the same approach."
Richardson further commented, "There's no policing of it at all, it is purely free will, if you want to queue you can. The queuing, that is just purely down to British culture traditions. A bit more encouragement in the world would go a little bit further, rather than trying to put people down."
