Influencer sparks backlash after carrying bathtub up Pen y Fan and leaving it there
Amelia Jones
A Swansea content creator has apologised after sparking a fierce backlash after leaving a bath at the top of Pen y Fan.
Tom Christopher, 25, carried the bathtub up the 2,907ft (886m) mountain in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park before filling it with water and taking a dip at the summit.
He said he had originally planned to take the bath back down immediately, but decided to leave it behind after receiving hundreds of messages from people asking him to keep it there so they could take pictures.
One person commented: “This is awesome, did you leave it up there? I would definitely take a dip in there. I’m sure loads of others would too x.”
Another said: “Please leave it up there for me!!”
Christopher later said he received more than 300 direct messages from people asking him to leave the bathtub so they could take pictures with it.
He was also interviewed about the video on the Capital South Wales radio station, talking about the people who helped him climb to the summit with the bath and fill it with river water. They called him a “Welsh icon” and questioned whether he had set a new world record.
Responding to the backlash, he wrote: “I left the bath on the mountain after the public asked me to leave it up there +300 DMs telling me to leave it up so they could take cool pictures with it.”
He said he had planned to return after 48 hours, put wheels on the bathtub and ride it back down the mountain.
However, the bathtub was removed the following day when Cardiff Rugby academy players discovered it while carrying out volunteering work on Pen y Fan.
The 25-year-old previously went viral during the summer heatwave after posting videos of himself selling fruit on beaches in Swansea.
His latest stunt has attracted a very different reaction, with people criticising him for leaving the bathtub behind on the mountain.
One commenter said: “So are you going to bring the bathtub back down, or just gonna dump it there?”
Another added: “Well you could of [sic] taken the bath tub back down the mountain with you. instead of fly tipping and leaving it on the mountain.”
‘An honest mistake’
He has since described leaving the bathtub behind as an “honest mistake,” saying he had believed he was doing the right thing after seeing the positive reaction online.
He said: “I obviously didn’t mistakenly leave it up there, I didn’t forget. It was a mistake in the fact I thought I was doing the right thing with people telling me it was ‘awesome’ and ‘cool’.”
He added: “I should never have left anything up the mountain.”
Christopher said he had wanted to create a “cool, wholesome video which made people smile” but accepted that he had made the wrong decision.
He said: “It’s a dirty mistake, I shouldn’t be leaving anything up the mountain.
“It’s my fault for thinking it was a good idea, when clearly I should have been thinking more about keeping our nature clean.”
Christopher also said he had been told the incident had been reported as fly-tipping and was unsure whether he could face a fine.
A spokesperson for National Trust Cymru told BBC Wales that its rangers helped the rugby players bring the bathtub down “due to the risk it posed to both visitors and the site of scientific interest [SSSI] with the potential for contamination”.
Bannau Brycheiniog National Park said its team work hard to maintain the site’s natural beauty, biodiversity and access, adding that dealing with waste and litter left by visitors takes considerable staff resources away from this vital work.
The park said littering and fly-tipping were a significant problem across Bannau Brycheiniog – impacting wildlife, livestock and local communities – and encouraged everyone who visits the National Park to act responsibly and leave no trace.
You can watch the full bathtub video here.
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He did something silly, but I actually think he’s handled the backlash with maturity, reflecting on where he went wrong and taking responsibility for his actions, and allowing the rest of us to learn the easy way how to treat our beauty spots (leave no trace).
Nah, the only reason this ‘content creator’ changed his mind is the same reason he left the thing up there in the first place – clicks and likes.
Correct. All about ” me,me,me”.