The Roof of North Africa, Jebel Toubkal
Trip Start
May 07, 2011
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12
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Trip End
May 28, 2011
Toubkal, Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, Morocco
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
We were up at 6:30 and after a 40 minute walk, arrived at the grand taxi rank on the outskirts of town. When we arrived, we discovered that most people had already left for Imlil. The taxi was cheaper with the more people you had in it so we decided to wait around and see if any more people turned up. We waited about 30 minutes before, by complete chance (and luck), we met an English chap (from Salisbury) called Jo who a) was going to Imlil, b) was planning on climbing the same mountain as us, c) had a proper OS map of the mountain and d) was an experienced climber / skier / mountaineer (Result I think!)
After brief introductions, we barted for a taxi for the three of us to Imlil, which cost around 300dh (30 euros). Apart from being held up at some road works (recent landslides had blocked the road), the drive through the mountains to Imlil was pretty relaxing and lasted a good hour.
Arriving in Imlil, we were greeted by a friend of the driver who tried to offer us the services of a guide / equipment / hotel / restaurant / anything else he could think of selling us. Considering we had an experienced mountaineer with us, we politely declined his services and set off for the refuge camp, located at the base of the summit path (~3200m above sea level).
We walked through a wooded area and the small village of Aroumd (Armed), which had an impressive Kasbah du Toubkal (now a hotel) overlooking the valley below. We continued on up the hill and across a wide stony river valley, where we had to cross the same river twice due to a map reading error!
The weather was surprisingly good, mostly sunny with occasional cloud cover. As we continued on along the trail, we could see the high mountains (including Jebel Toubkal) in the distance towering above us, worryingly with a large amount of snow on top! After about 3 hours, we reached the small hamlet of Sidi Chamharouch (~2310m). There were a few small shops selling food and drinks and a Muslim Saint's mausoleum. The mausoleum was an important pilgrimage site, hence why we saw several elderly locals getting donkey rides to the village. By this point we were pretty tired and we were only half way to the refuge! We therefore took the opportunity to have some lunch on a few large rocks/boulders overlooking the hamlet and a raging river that ran through the center of the hamlet (must be lots of snow melt higher up the valley I guess).
After lunch, we continued on up the valley towards the refuge. The landscape was absolutely amazing and was constantly changing, from lush green valleys to barren rocky valleys with snow capped mountain peaks high above us.
After another 2 hours, we stopped at a small cafe and had a freshly squeezed orange juice. It was a bit more expensive than the usual prices but considering the oranges had been dragged all the way up the mountain, I couldn't complain. We could actually see the refuge from the cafe but it was still some distance away. Another hours walk and we arrived at the refuge (~3207m), and just in time too as it had just started to rain.
The refuge was nice and warm, plus was run by very friendly staff. It was also cheaper than the private refuge located next door! The weather was not improving, in fact it was getting steadily worse, lots of cloud cover and heavy rain persisting throughout most of the afternoon and evening. Me and Peter were starting to get a little concerned about the ascent tomorrow morning. I had brought some water proofs and warm clothes where as Peter had brought absolutely nothing (what a numpty!) Due to the unexpected amount of snow covering the mountain, I decided to hire some crampons from the refuge, which amazingly fit onto my "walking trainers".
After getting our gear ready for tomorrows ascent, we hung around in the refuge, talking to other hikers and climbers before having dinner at around 7ish. Dinner consisted of a hearty Moroccan soup and a massive chicken tagine, both were very nice. This was followed by an early bed in anticipation of the even earlier start and the difficult climb ahead of us tomorrow. Me and Peter also had to borrow some blankets from the refuge as we didn't bring our sleeping bags with us (less weight to carry said Peter, somehow I don't think he's though this through!).
25th May 2011
Woke up at 5:30 in order to set off for around 6ish. Unfortunately, the weather was working against us as it was still raining and no breaks in the cloud could be seen. Peter wisely decided to rent a waterproof coat from the refuge, and he also borrowed my hat and Joe's spare jumper and gloves.
We waited around for about an hour, by which point the rain had died down to a light drizzle. We decided to take the easier summit path, located on the southern side of the mountain. The path would take us between two cwms before looping round onto a ridge leading up to the summit.
No sooner had we started our ascent, the effects of altitude hit me. I was getting breathless after taking a few steps and due to the rain / snow, every step became a battle of endurance.
After trudging through a foot of snow, up a very steep and heavily exposed hillside for over 3 hours, we reached Tizi n' Toubkal (~3940m), an opening in the mountain where we could swing round and onto the ridge leading towards the summit.
Joe was being an absolute legend. He had all the proper gear: waterproofs, maps, boots, crampons, ice axe, you name it he had it! Joe was leading the way,digging foot holes in the snow for us, with Peter (in his running trainers) following behind and me in some rather dodgy looking old crampons bringing up the rear.
By this point, the weather had turned for the worse. The rain had become snow (or more accurately hail), plus the wind had picked up, turning the mountain side into a blizzard! It was becoming more and more difficult to ascend, due to the altitude and the weather.
Nevertheless, we soldiered on for another hour, past Tizi n' Toubkal and along the ridge towards the summit. Unfortunately, due to the blizzard, we couldn't actually see the summit until we were practically right on top of it! We curved around the ridge and eventually reached the summit (~4167m) at around 10:30 (4 hour ascent time, average time according to the guide books!). Sadly, we couldn't see more than 50ft in front of us due to the low cloud level and the blizzard. We were, however, the first ones to reach the summit that day!
We spent about 5 minutes at the summit, taking the usual victorious pictures, before heading back down the mountain. We ended up sliding down on our asses for most of the descent, which was a lot of fun, plus a hell of a lot faster than walking. We made it back down to the refuge in about an hour and a half (compared with the 4 hours up!), by which point me and Peter were absolutely drenched (you could literally ring the water out!)
We spent another hour in the refuge, attempting to dry our clothes and also repacking our bags we'd left behind in the refuge. Leaving the refuge at around 13:00, we headed back down the mountain path to Imlil and hopefully a taxi back to Marrakesh. We made a quick pit stop at Sidi Chamharouch for a brief rest and another orange juice, before continuing on down the valley, arriving in Imlil at around 17:00. We were a lot faster coming down the mountain than getting up it, with every step becoming easier as the air became thicker.
We hired ourselves a taxi back to Marrakesh, which lasted another hour and a half (more mountain road works again!). The taxi dropped us off in Marrakesh town center, where we said our goodbyes to Joe, who was meeting his family in the main square for dinner. Me and Peter felt absolutely exhausted so we went to KFC for dinner, as we couldn't be bothered haggling in the main square. After stuffing ourselves with "chicken", we headed back to the hostel, attempted to dry off our clothes/shoes, showered then collapsed on the beds, feeling absolutely shattered!
