I will never queue at the top of a mountain. Are you dumb.
I’ve reached a point in my life where if I wake up after 7am, I am a huge lazy failure who is wasting her entire sloth life away. Like today. Obviously, this isn’t a humble brag – I hate it and I don’t want to feel guilty for waking up ‘late’. I am a woman. And I am tired.
Being up early means I have more time to think. Having more time to think means I have more time to drop myself into scenarios that I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing. Like this one that has recently plopped itself on my radar: the queues on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), and the fact that people are upset with others for refusing to adhere to their nonsensical queuing system.
Two charity hikers were booed at the top of Yr Wyddfa for skipping a queue formed by selfie-chasers and train passengers. Marc Screeton was heckled by a couple of witches, one of whom even said ‘chuck his phone off’. The controversy around queuing on a mountain has made its way to daytime TV, including This Morning, where Rylan assured everyone that ‘if someone walked past me, they would be down that mountain quicker than they got up there.’
I suppose he doesn’t know that getting down a mountain generally is quicker than the ascent. I think it’s safe to say no one is being chucked off a mountain by Rylan, anyway.
It just highlights the fact that the people who believe in queues on a mountain aren’t people who do any sort of hiking or walking. They’re also the sort of people who like to be told what to do.
There are no queues in the wild
It’s a mountain. The rocks were formed hundreds of millions of years ago. They are natural and wild and they definitely don’t care about any unspoken rules people want to follow. Sheep and goats are allowed to roam freely, there are no bins because you are expected to know not to litter, and there is no barrier along Crib Goch – if you fall off, you fall off.
Why, then, are people deciding to impose rules upon themselves and others? It’s not a post office. You have to queue at the post office. You don’t have to queue at the pub, but some people still do. You shouldn’t be queuing atop a mountain. Your obsession with joining every queue you find is a you problem.
If you are desperate to follow rules and bind yourself by some sort of shackle, you shouldn’t be outdoors – leave the natural world for the people who want to feel somewhat free and get yourself to Chessington on a bank holiday. Queueing to get a selfie at the top isn’t part of hiking the mountain – it might be for you, but it isn’t for people who just want to reach the top and get back down again. Nobody should be expected to wait behind you. I find it all a bit pathetic, really. So do the authorities.
Respect the area, the wildlife, and those around you. Wear sensible clothing and only do what your ability allows you to safely do. Leave no trace. Ultimately: have a brain.
I walked, you took the train. Unfortunately, they are not equal.
I hiked Cader Idris for the first time recently, where there’s thankfully no train. I’d be fuming if I got to the top with destroyed legs and saw a queue of train passengers.
I’ve done Yr Wyddfa a few times and it’s been gaining more popularity each year. It’s stunning and there’s a route for every ability, so of course people want to see it in real life. But people should remember the mountain existed before they discovered it. I generally only hike early in the morning (before the sort of people who would queue on a mountain turn up), so I can’t say I’ve ever seen a queue myself. If I did, I would also walk straight past it and touch the trig.
I would try to avoid getting in the way of your photo, but if you’re taking the mickey up there it’s not my problem. Take the picture somewhere else or wait a few seconds. If you started hurling insults at me and telling people to ‘chuck my phone off’, I would laugh. What are you gonna do, leave the queue for a scrap and have to rejoin at the back?
Helen Pacey believes there should be a bouncer putting in a shift at the highest point in Wales, as she couldn’t reach the top because people were ‘jumping the queue’. She said ‘It’s not fair that these people that are much fitter than others are just running up the rocks and getting to the top’, but respectfully, I’d like to disagree.
Of course it’s fair. Spencer Herbert said so in the 19th century. Why should I restrict myself just because you can’t do it? Is it also not fair that there’s a disabled access queue for Thorpe Park or extra wide parking bays at the front of the supermarket? I’m not complaining or trying to take your space. If I have the ability to do the things you can’t do, why shouldn’t I do them?
I don’t have more of a right to be at the trig than you, but if I spent three hours hiking up when you spent an hour sitting on the train, I definitely have the right to continue my hike as I was. My hike doesn’t include queuing.
You didn’t touch the trig because you saw a queue and figured you were going to miss your train… meanwhile some people had limited time to finish the three peaks and aren’t stupid enough to join a queue. Your knees aren’t going to be annihilated from all that sitting you’re doing on the train, but mine will be once I’m back at the car park. But you wouldn’t know because you’ve never walked down the Pyg track.
Before anyone’s face blows up like a tomato: it’s not ableist to refuse to cap your ability due to someone else’s disability (or inability).
The mountain isn’t only for hikers; it’s for everyone. But if you can’t hike it, you don’t get to impose rules that make it easier for you.
People don’t need to abide by your rules
Unlike Helen Pacey and friends, I like to put myself in the shoes of those I am opposing. So, in an attempt to understand the lunacy a bit better (and check that my own brain is still working), I’ve done just that. I would never queue on a mountain, but let’s, for argument’s sake, say I did.
- a) I took the train up and wanted to get a picture at the trigI wouldn’t complain about someone who hiked up and just wanted to touch the trig. I realise that I took the easy way up and they deserve to complete their hike as they wish. If anything, I skipped the trip up the mountain by taking the train. It’s a mountain, not a paid attraction.
- b) I hiked up and wanted to get a picture at the trigI wouldn’t complain about someone who hiked up and just wanted to touch the trig. The only reason I’m in a queue is because I really want a picture. If someone doesn’t care about getting a nice photo at the top, why should they have to queue?
Anyway. All those photos and videos of queues on a mountain make me shudder. How grotesque. What’s next, a lift up Tryfan?
I hope one day people will realise how stupid it is to impose their self-made rules on everyone else – but I avoid popular areas at popular times so that I can avoid stupid people.
I’ve got a few more things to say about the outdoors; hiking outfits, hiking influencers, people being grossly unprepared because of social media. But, I’ll leave you with a photo of the summit of Yr Wyddfa when I went last year. I’ve been lucky enough to see cloud inversion there before, but I doubt anyone’s queuing for this:
