ADVENTURER CLEARS BEN NEVIS' 'DISGUSTING RUBBISH'
An adventurer and social media influencer has climbed up and down Ben Nevis several times in a week to remove "absolutely disgusting" rubbish left in an emergency shelter.
Paul Arnott, 29, from Bedfordshire, said when he became stranded on a hike he took cover and discovered "a nightmare" that included a frozen tent, rotten food, and bottles of bodily fluids.
The video creator decided to use his TikTok account, Downtherapids, that has more than 92,000 followers, to highlight the issue.
"It's a way of giving back to the mountains and the community," he said.
Since a young age, he has climbed mountains and has travelled all over the world exploring and making videos.
He first arrived in the Fort William area of Ben Nevis, Scotland, two weeks ago.
Speaking about why he sought out emergency shelter he said: "I got stuck in pretty bad conditions at the top of the summit, there were 60mph winds, I couldn't see a thing.
"I went in there and it was absolutely filthy, it was a nightmare, there was rotten food, saturated clothes, bottles of bodily fluids, all sorts of stuff, it was absolutely disgusting."
He took it upon himself to return and started clearing it out at night, when the route was less busy.
He said since posting on his social media channels, "it's been insane" and he has received offers of help from other people.
So far, he has collected more than 10 bags of rubbish and is trying to break up, and bring down, a broken tent.
"I want to keep doing things like this, it's such a positive thing to do, so I want to use my platform in a good way."
He believed there were "two sides" to why the rubbish was left.
Some items could have been left due to an emergency and there were "unable to bring it down".
"But there should be some sense of responsibility to let the community know and arrange for it to be brought down.
"It's important to respect the mountain and keep the environment safe", he added.
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2024-05-06T05:23:06Z dg43tfdfdgfd