A FUNDRAISING campaign has been launched to fix two routes on a Snowdonia mountain which have “fallen badly into disrepair and desperately need repair” to protect the 70,000 walkers who use it every year.

Two of the main routes into Cader Idris have been earmarked to benefit from the Mend Our Mountains: Make One Million campaign, with £140,000 needed to fix the damage.

The two paths, Mynydd Moel and Minffordd Path, both need significant work with the routes on Cader Idris not having been reviewed for almost 30 years.

The Mend Our Mountains appeal said: “Two main routes onto Cader Idris have fallen badly into disrepair and desperately need repair.

“This is in part because resources have been funnelled into protecting Snowdon, Britain’s most popular mountain for walkers.

“It’s a real issue in Snowdonia – there is an enormous quantity of brilliant, rugged and vulnerable upland that needs care but is often neglected because of the huge toll on Snowdon.

“The two paths, Mynydd Moel and Minffordd Path, both need significant work.

“On Mynydd Moel, a large patch of unstable scree has opened up with serious consequences for safety and navigation.

“And the Minffordd Path needs to have the steps around Cwm Cau fixed or replaced.

“The sites are ecologically sensitive as well, and access for repair is challenging.

“All of this combines to make the work in Snowdonia expensive and time-consuming.”

The cash will be used to build high-quality, stone-flagged sections of path in the most damaged areas of the two routes, with the work being done by Snowdonia’s National Park Authority to stabilise rough ground, and create clear routes through difficult terrain.

It will cost £40,000 just to airlift the stone on to the mountain by helicopter – this does not include the cost of the material or labour.

Mair Huws, head of warden and access service for the Snowdonia National Park, said: “The Mend Our Mountains funding does not cover the whole cost of the work, but the profile it generated helped to prioritise the Watkin Path and without it the repairs could have been postponed further.

“The fact that we got the funding also gave us a stronger case for additional funding from the Welsh government to undertake the work.”

The Mend Our Mountains: Make One Million is a year-long appeal to raise £1m for a range of vital repair projects within the UK’s 15 national parks including Snowdonia.

It is coordinated by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), funded by the BMC Access and Conservation Trust (BMC ACT), and run in conjunction with a coalition of national park authorities, outdoor enthusiast groups and charitable trusts.