'It's not Alton Towers' - rows break out over queuing at Wales' highest mountain

ByMatthew Richards

BBC Wales, Reporting fromYr Wyddfa

Visitors to Wales' highest mountain are being urged to respect others by not skipping queues to reach the top following rows among climbers.

Recent hot weather means there have been bumper summer crowds at Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, where people have reportedly waited more than one hour to reach the 1,085m (3,560ft)-high summit.

Social media videos have shown arguments among queue-jumpers and those patiently waiting their turn to touch the metal plate that marks the top.

A recent video showed Marc Screeton, from Manchester, being heckled as he bypassed the line, saying: "Imagine queuing on a mountain? No chance."

But others have said queuing is necessary for safety reasons.

The mountain's growing popularity in Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia, has led to bottlenecks, and queues are now common on the stone steps leading to a metal plate or trig point where people pose for photos and videos.

Speaking to BBC Wales, walkers on the mountain had mixed views about those jumping the queues.

Lucy Taylor said: "I think you should queue because it's really quite dangerous and everyone's trying to get up there - it's just not safe."

Tina Millard from West Bromwich said: "I don't think that you should have to queue.

"It's a mountain, you should just be able to go up and that's it.

"We're not at Alton Towers for a ride. It's a mountain, it's for everyone," she said.

Carl Lynch from Dunstable, Bedfordshire said: "It should be: 'go up there, two minutes and then move on for everyone else'. Simple as that."

Throughout this year's hot weather national park wardens have urged visitors to follow the country code by closing gates, taking their litter away with them and reducing the risks of wildfires.

They have also urged people to wait their turn when queuing.

Alun Jones, an area warden for Eryri National Park Authority, urged those wanting to reach the trig point to be "considerate and don't skip the queue".

While queuing is often not compulsory, it is often an "unwritten and unspoken" social contract, according to an expert in moral philosophy.

Johann Go, who is also assistant professor of ethics at University College London, said: "So it's not that I have to queue, but given that others are already restraining themselves, if I were to then jump the queue, I would be saying 'to hell with them' and that my time is more valuable."