Tourists have left bad reviews after finding the 3,560ft climb up Mount Snowdon ‘too short’ and claiming the peak would be better if ‘they put it in England’.
As many chose to venture into the great outdoors during the pandemic, some wanderers were surprised to find that coffee and toilet facilities are not always available on a mountain top.
One review left on Tripadvisor called for the peak in Gwynedd, north Wales, to be rebuilt ‘a bit bigger so that everyone can fit’ on the summit.
While another gave the destination a thumbs-down, claiming her entire family was ‘distressed and disappointed’ to get to the top to find they couldn’t get a flat white.
One reviewer by the name of Stephen S shared a picture of the crowds at the summit, claiming the mountain needed to be rebuilt with ‘social distancing’
‘Kaballie’ who visited in January 2020, wrote: ‘I went all the way up and I couldn’t get a flat white at the top.
‘Me and my whole family were very distressed and disappointed by the outcome.’
Some of the reviews have to be read to be believed, with one reviewer by the name of Stephen S claiming the mountain needed to be rebuilt with ‘social distancing’.
Rating it a mere one out of five stars in a visit in September, Stephen wrote: ‘The Welsh Assembly should include Snowdon Summit as high risk area for Covid-19!
Stephen S wrote: ‘The Welsh Assembly should include Snowdon Summit as high risk area for Covid-19!’
Writing from France before the lockdown in January 2020, ‘Geoff M’ gave Snowdon a ‘terrible’ one star for being ‘way too rough and steep’
‘Next time you rebuild Snowdon make it a bit bigger so that everyone can fit on to the top without queueing but lower so that it is not as windy, cold and wet?
‘I went up last Friday for the first time in years. Everyone is supposed to be back at work and back at school, the train isn’t running to the summit.
‘Pub, toilets and restaurant closed, no foreign tourists allowed in without a quarantine but still a massive queue to get to the top, no-one is wearing a face-mask and no-one is social distancing! Have some people no shame??
Walkers in their climbing gear queue down the mountain to reach the summit of Mount Snowdon, Snowdonia National Park, in September 2020
He continued: ‘Fortunately ascent on the Rhyd Ddu path and descent on the Snowdon Ranger paths was fairly quiet but routes from Llanberis and Pen-y-Pass subject to significant delays due to excess pedestrian traffic both up and down.’
One visitor from Barry, South Wales, named Harding1000, rated Wales’ tallest mountain ‘average’, adding that there was ‘no social distancing’ on Snowdon.
She said: ‘I decided to summit via the Llanberis pass. As I thought it would be easier.
‘This is a challenging walk over 7 hours and personally I wouldn’t recommend for kids. Some rocks can be slippery and I did have a fall.
Another reviewer ‘Daisy-May’, from Blackpool, wrote in August 2020: ‘Tried to park in car park, but was closed
‘No social distancing, especially at the summit. I just had to hope the high winds blow away any covid [sic].
‘I did feel rather unhappy to [take] photos for someone in light of covid, but you can’t really say no on the summit.
‘When you arrive there are about 30 in the queue in front of you. The cafe is not open until May 2021.
‘There is not a stone or bush you can hide behind for a wee. I found every step to be painful on the way down in my bladder.
‘I glad I bet the challenge but I wouldn’t say it’s enjoyable’.
‘Kaballie’ who visited in January 2020, wrote: ‘I went all the way up and I couldn’t get a flat white at the top
But the bizarre negative reviews are few and far between with the overwhelming majority of Snowdon’s 2,623 reviewers on Tripadvisor giving the mountain five stars.
Another reviewer ‘Daisy-May’, from Blackpool, wrote in August 2020: ‘Tried to park in car park, but was closed.
‘Ended up parking in Llanberis and walking up the boring path. Now an over crowded highway.
‘No toilets, so everyone seems to be using the bushes. Not hygienic.
‘Lots of rubbish piled up and allowed to blow across the country. A real tragedy.’
Writing from France before the lockdown in January 2020, ‘Geoff M’ gave Snowdon a ‘terrible’ one star for being ‘way too rough and steep’.
‘The weather is atrocious and whatever possessed them to put it in Wales?’ he asked.
‘It would be much better in Cornwall.’