Olympic Legacy

As the golden glow of the spectacular London Olympics fades and the Paralympics draws to a close, the focus turns to “legacy”.

Apart from the infrastructure legacy of the world-class sporting venues in the form of stadia, most commentators and politicians are talking about legacy in the terms of future sporting success.  The glut of gold medals combined with the feelgood factor of a home Olympics has got us in the mood for more.  It appears that the level of legacy delivered will be judged by the number of sportsmen and sportswomen who will be successful in the future, particularly in Olympic sports.

But there are other views to be considered.

During the Olympics, whilst he was working for the BBC as a swimming pundit, Australian 5-time gold medal winner Ian Thorpe visited Tooting Bec Lido to give swimming lessons to local children.  When interviewed, he said that getting people active in sport was a legacy in itself, by keeping people healthy and reducing the need for (and cost of) future healthcare.

Although sporting competition amongst children should be encouraged to enable them to cope with the day-to-day competition in adult life, winning should not necessarily be the ultimate focus.  In any Olympic event, there can only be one winner and then only every 4 years.  It should be recognised that not everybody can be a gold medal Olympian, but all children should be exposed to sport to give them a chance to reach this sporting pinnacle.  Only a few will win medals, a few more will compete at a national level for a place on the Olympic team, even more will compete at a local level but most sportspeople will simply participate for the love of their sport.

As they grow older, some children will recognise that sporting competition will not become a significant aspect of their life.  But a true legacy ought to address this circumstance.

I enjoyed the Olympics, with its spectacle and the success of Team GB (& Northen Ireland !).  Although future gold medals represent an important part of the legacy of the games, surely the true legacy ought to be judged by the number of children (and adults) who try some new sport, Olympic or otherwise, competitive or recreational, and get off the sofa and away from televisions and games consoles.

And this is where our hills and mountains can play a part.

There is a huge amount of countryside out there – cheaper than a gym membership and much more inspiring – ready to exercise and inspire a future generation.

It appears that parliament has started to do its bit following yesterday’s ascent of Snowdon by members of the All Party Parliamentary Mountaineering Group, accompanied by BMC and national mountain centre (Plas y Brenin) luminaries.  PyB is reporting an increase in the number of families booking on courses and a new campaign – “Britain on Foot” – is to be launched later in the year with the aim of promoting accessible walking for all.

That’s a small, but significant, start and now is the time for our schools, youth organisations, walking clubs, climbing clubs and national organisations such as the Ramblers and the British Mountaineering Council to grasp the opportunity that is legacy and carry it forward to light the beacon that is participation.

Killing the Golden Goose

Search for “3 peaks” on JustGiving.com and hundreds of entries will be returned.  It’s likely that hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions of pounds are raised annually on such 3 peaks challenges, all for perfectly laudable charities.  Some of the more prominent charities that champion the fundraisers on their own websites are Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes, Sport Relief and Oxfam with the help that they provide changing many lives for the better.

But what price charity?

Mid-summer weekends are primetime for the 3 peaks (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) given the long daylight hours and (in theory) fairer weather.  But on Facebook yesterday the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team posted this –

“Shocking amounts of litter, people creating new paths, the stink of urine and worse on the summit of Scafell Pike this morning.”

The Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team quickly followed up with this post –

“There's no excuse for this.  If someone tells you they are taking part in such an event, then please make them aware of the problems that events like this can cause (sorry for getting political, but this is unforgivable).”

Consider the impact of those that take part.  Even if they live directly on the route between the 3 peaks, challengers will be making a 950 mile round-trip.  Add a few hundred more if the challengers live south of the midlands.  Obviously mini-buses lessen the amount of fuel used, but some organisers have convoys in double figures traveling up and down the country.

And with hundreds of walkers using the same paths in such a short time, footpath erosion is becoming a big problem.  Even the road leading to Wasdale Head struggles to take the impact of increased traffic.  There have long been tales of unacceptable noise (raised voices, slamming car doors, car alarms) in the wee small hours at Wasdale Head, as challengers prepare themselves for the ascent and celebrate the descent of Scafell Pike.

Even the national representative body for hillwalkers and mountaineers has expressed concerns about sustainability – http://www.thebmc.co.uk/three-peaks-challenge.

Charities may soon find themselves in an awkward position as so much money is raised but objections to the environmental impact incurred increase.  In my view, they ought to take a stance of expressing gratitude for the efforts made by well-meaning members of the public money but actively discourage such fund-raising events.

As if the 3 peaks aren’t enough for some people, I’ve seen adverts for the 6 peaks challenge with the addition of the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and Eire providing a more extreme fundraising experience.

Finally, I issue a plea to charities and fundraisers who use the 3 peaks to raise money …..

FIND ANOTHER CHALLENGE !

One that doesn’t use gallons of petrol.

One that doesn’t erode the landscape it takes place in.

One that doesn’t inconvenience local residents.

And one that doesn’t turn our wild places into public lavatories.