On Earth Day 2025, I set myself a challenge I’d been wanting to complete for a long time: run, hike, and scramble all eight main non-climbing routes up and down Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), clearing trash as I went. The aim? To support Trash Free Trails, reconnect with the mountain I love, and do something that combined endurance, service, and purpose.

This wasn’t a race. There was no medal, no finish line crowd, no energy gels being handed out. Just me, a pack full of bin bags and gloves, and a long day of moving up and down the highest peak in Wales with one very clear objective: clean it up.

Yr Wyddfa is the busiest mountain in all of Europe, drawing more than 600,000 visitors a year. With that level of footfall comes an unavoidable reality: litter. From sweet wrappers to tissues, bottles to forgotten gear, the mountain picks up traces of us whether we mean to leave them or not. Earth Day felt like the perfect time to give something back.

The day started at 4:00am in the darkness and stillness of pre-dawn Llanberis. The route went as follows: up the Ranger Path to the summit, down Rhyd Ddu, up and down the South Ridge, then down to the Watkin waterfalls and back up the full Watkin Path to the summit. From there, I descended the Lliwedd Ridge, before ascending the Miners' and Pyg tracks en route to Crib Goch. I finished by heading up Crib Goch and finally descending down the Llanberis Path.

Early on, heading up Telegraph Valley toward the Ranger Path, the wind picked up and the rain moved in. This is a part of adventure I quietly love - the moment the outside world fades away, the distractions disappear, and it’s just you, the mountain, and the commitment you’ve made. This is the quiet grind. The part where you do exactly what you said you were going to do.

Throughout the day, I was joined by a small team of volunteers who tackled the Miners' and Pyg Tracks, two of the most popular and heavily impacted routes. With their support and dedication, and with my own effort spread across the rest of the mountain, we collectively removed 2,353 pieces of litter from the mountain.

Special mention goes to Dom, the founder of Trash Free Trails, who was up at the same time as me to start the day from the same point. He proceeded to ride his bike up to the summit and met me along the way. By the end of the day, we were both still standing - counting rubbish and processing the data we’d collected - before Dom casually headed back off on his holiday!

Every route had its own personality, and every one of them had litter. Some of it was windblown, some hidden in nooks, some heartbreakingly recent. But with each item picked up, the connection to the landscape deepened. This wasn’t just a clean-up. It was a way of showing respect.

The Adventure Coach is proud to be an official partner of Trash Free Trails - a community-focused non-profit that inspires people to protect the wild spaces they love. Their mission is clear: to reduce single-use pollution on trails and in wild places by 75% by 2025. But it goes deeper than that. They aim to restore our connection to the outdoors, to shift attitudes around ownership and responsibility, and to empower individuals to become trail custodians in their own right.

As The Adventure Coach, my mission is to help people become fitter, stronger, more capable, and more adventurous. But that mission is meaningless if we don’t protect the places that allow us to do those things. We can’t preach adventure without practising stewardship. Sustainable adventures aren’t just about gear or preparation, they’re about leaving a positive trace. About ensuring that the places we love can be loved by others, long after we’re gone.

This is why I believe clean-ups like this should be a natural extension of our time outdoors. Just as we train for the climbs, prepare our nutrition, and gear up for big days, we should also show up for the trails that give us so much.

By the time I hit my final descent, my legs were spent, my jacket soaked through, and my bag full of rubbish. But I felt proud. Genuinely proud. I'd spent a full day out in the mountains doing something that mattered.

We talk a lot about doing hard things. About pushing our limits. But sometimes, the most meaningful challenge isn’t the physical, it’s the purposeful. And Earth Day 2025, on Yr Wyddfa, was exactly that.

If you’re looking for a challenge that matters, find a local peak. Take a bag. Do one lap. Do eight if you want. But whatever you do, leave it better than you found it.

Huge thanks to Trash Free Trails for inspiring this one. Let’s keep doing our bit. This felt like truly meaningful work.

All images credited to the amazingly talented Ceri - @StillsByCeri - thank you for your hard work and endless cheerfulness