CLIMBING TOUBKAL - 4,167m

I recently climbed Toubkal in Morocco and thought this would be a good place to share my experience.
Me and my friend made the climb in two days in early November 2017. Since the climate has been warming up in recent years there was no snow and almost no ice, although it did get quite chilly as we gained altitude. My advice for those attempting the climb in the Autumn is to bring layers (including gloves!). 
We made the climb with a guide because just to be on the safe side but you can easily do it on your own. The climb began at the village of Imlil which was about and hour drive from the Marrakech airport. We walked for about 40m-1h until we made it to the Toubkal national park entrance. 



Once there we walked on the mountain path for about 1h and 30m before reaching Sidi Chamharouch which is a small village where we stopped for a couple of minutes to have a rest and drink some mint tea. The place itself is built around a tomb which has turned into a place of prayer and is believed to have special healing powers.


After the break we continued on the path for about another 3h until we reached the CAF refuge at 3,200m. The place itself is like most mountain shelters out there with running water (cold only off course) beds and canteen. 


We had dinner and spend the night at the refuge and made an early start on the following morning. 
If you would like to see the sunrise on top of Toubkal (which I recommend), you should make sure that you leave the refuge in the early hours of the morning - around 3-4:00 am. 

The climb to the top should not take more than 4h even if you go at a slow pace. Once at the top you can enjoy a 360o view of the high Atlas which would definitely make the whole experience worth while.

.............

In terms of equipment - please make sure to pack layers of clothing, gloves and climbing boots. Depending on the time of the year when you decide to make your climb you might also need to carry crampons. 

If you are interested in learning more about this climb you can check out the video below where have filmed the different stages in more detail:











Location: Toubkal, Morocco

Comments

  1. robotclegg20 September 2019 at 03:17

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    ReplyDelete

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