A MOUNTAIN guide from Bangor raised money for Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team when he led a litter-picking team of roughly 40 people across Snowdonia last weekend.

Dave Jones, who runs ‘Exploring Snowdonia and North Wales’, which provides days out, hikes, explorations and more across the area, spearheaded the Christmas clean-up event on Saturday, December 4.

Similar litter picks also took place in the Peak District and the Brecon Beacons, raising an approximate combined total of £1,200 for various causes including mental health and Alzheimer’s charities.

The Snowdonia clean-up raised £290, which Dave chose to donate to the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, given how regularly he sees the invaluable work the group carries out on a voluntary basis.

Dave, a regular litter picker across Snowdonia, was delighted by how well-attended the event was despite last weekend’s difficult weather conditions.

He said: “It was a really good turnout; we had 40 people turn up here - they were an amazing bunch of people. We had about five people travel for six hours to come!

“The weather was very windy and cold, and obviously, the top was frozen; but we got two bin bags full.

“The objective once we got about three-quarters of the way up was just getting everybody up safely and carrying on the litter picking on the way back down. I litter pick every time I’m on the mountain, but not to this extent!

“We got off the mountain and they (Llanberis Mountain Rescue) were going up on Saturday. It costs thousands, because people are underprepared.

“They’re all volunteers, and they sometimes get called out eight times a week. They don’t get paid for it; for some winter rescues, they could be on the mountains for 12 hours in freezing cold weather.”

Dave is planning more litter picks next year on a larger scale; including a March event which will hopefully see him and his team clean up all seven walking routes to the summit of Snowdonia.

Inspired by the size of Saturday’s turnout, he hopes that next year’s events will be even bigger and better.

Dave added: “I’ve had a couple of companies contact me about wanting to fund the next one to make it bigger.

“We’re either planning to do the national Three Peaks, probably for the summer, or all seven routes of Snowdon in March, and just get a big team in. I’m going to call it: ‘The Big Spring Clean’!”