{"id":32082,"date":"2026-04-02T11:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsa.wales\/?p=32082"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:34:20","slug":"peak-exposure-the-mountains-youre-looking-at-are-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsa.wales\/cy\/peak-exposure-the-mountains-youre-looking-at-are-melanoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Peak Exposure: the mountains you\u2019re looking at are melanoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peak Exposure, a new campaign from the Melanoma Fund, premiered at Plas y Brenin National Outdoor Centre on 26\u201327 March, placing the issue of sun exposure directly in front of those responsible for managing risk in the outdoor sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference brought together national providers with reach across thousands of instructors, guides and outdoor professionals, making it a deliberate launch point for sector-wide influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At first glance, the images appear to be dramatic mountain landscapes, ridgelines shrouded in mist, snow and ice catching the light. Look closer, and the illusion breaks. These are not mountains, but close-up images of melanoma and sun-damaged skin, shaped by years of UV exposure in the very environments they resemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images are carefully constructed photographic works, capturing real skin detail in extreme close-up to mirror the texture, scale and form of mountain landscapes. This deliberate visual parallel reinforces the connection between environment and exposure, grounding the campaign in the physical reality of UV damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This approach builds on the Melanoma Fund\u2019s previous collaboration with Neverland, whose Silhouettes campaign won four awards at the Creative Circle Awards, establishing a creative direction that uses visual disruption to challenge how skin cancer is understood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign has been developed in collaboration with Klick Health, who led the creative execution. Klick will be on-site capturing real-time audience reactions to the exhibition, providing insight into how the work lands and informing its future development across the outdoor sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign features voices from within the outdoor sector, including Guy Jarvis, Mountaineering Instructor and Executive Officer at Mountain Training, whose image forms part of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guy Jarvis said, \u201cEveryone warned me about avalanches. No one warned me about melanoma. In the mountains, we\u2019re trained to manage risk, but sun exposure has never been treated in the same way. That needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cultural blind spot in outdoor safety<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skin cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK, with over 21,000 cases of melanoma diagnosed each year and significantly higher numbers of non-melanoma skin cancers. Despite this, sun exposure remains one of the most normalised and least challenged risks in outdoor activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research from the Melanoma Fund highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n