I climbed Toubkal summit at 4167m and there was long way down. My guide from GetYourGuide left me unsupervised to climb from the big stone at the top to the summit (the last 200m or so of elevation) and then to return to the refuge, eventhough he saw that I am inexperienced and how much I struggled to climb up. Somewhere in the middle of the way down I did something very silly when I’ve decided to slide down a snowy part on the Toubkal mountain and thanks to other group’s guide @traveler_guidee heroic act I still have all the limbs and no injuries. My thought process was that the guys down there (almost in a flat area) were sliding so I could slide down and probably the level of exhaustion and lack of oxygen due to the altitude led to that stupid slide moment. Also, from nasty comments on Instagram I found out that one should have an ice axe (to be able to stop) and take off crampons (not to break your ankles or legs) when attempting a stupid slide like that.
Table of Contents
The video does look much more dramatic and steep as it was in reality due to the wide lens GoPro camera, but yes somewhere in the middle of the video you can see that one of the crampons came off and luckily I manage to avoid the rocks on the right side. I guess I would have stopped somewhere eventually as I was already gradually losing speed, but I’ll admin – it was a bit scary. The right amount of gear packing is essential for Toubkal summit hike. Make sure not to overpack as it will become a burden.
But let’s start from the very beginning… I got up at 7:30 am and at 8:00am I was having a breakfast at Riad la perle de Marrakech. The owner was so kind to prepare some food in the evening and leave it in the table outside in a closed square, where we normally ate our breakfast.
Getting a ride to Imlil
At 8:15 am I was already crossing Medina to the other side towards Jemaa el-Fnaa. The streets were empty and to be honest I think I felt more uncomfortable in the empty streets in the morning than in the dark streets in the evening with occasional people passing by. It was literally first rays of light when I left.
The Souk streets were completely empty compared busy and crowded streets during the day or evening.
The only ones keeping me company on the streets were loads of cats and it was loads of them.
In 15 min I was already in Jemaa el-Fnaa as it was way much faster to cross in empty streets, when fighting through the crowds during the day.
I was waiting for ages at the meeting point in front of Hôtel Ali. Other groups were gathering there too. At some point one local asked me how much my jacket costs, as it was North Face down jacket. I should have said it was fake. Instead I told him 1500 dinar (~£150 )instead of 2000 dinar (~£200), which got him very curious and made me nervous as I thought I might get robbed in the daylight. Luckily he walked away and I was getting nervous as it was already the agreed pick-up time.
At last, 10 min later I received a text on WhatsApp that the van cannot come to the hotel and I must walk to the main road for around 10 min, which wasn’t too bad, but my bags were pretty heavy and I was already tired dragging them through entire Medina. I was glad I left my suitcase in the Riad I was staying in for just 90 dinar, 30 dinar per day (~£3 per day) and brought my duffel bag and backpack, which was clearly too much stuff.
After texting back and forth on Whatsapp I found the found the van, I dropped my bags there and sat in one of the single seats. However, some people are still missing. So we had to wait for another 20 min for them to arrive.
In the end, we left Marrakesh around 9:30 am and it was quite cold in the Van in the morning, but I was glad to have my down jacket with me and I was very well prepared for the cold as the weather forecast said it is going to be -19°C on the summit.
At 10:35 am we arrived to Imlil. As somebody in the Van said it was the African Chimonix (ski resort in France). We came in to a very cold room and waited for further instructions. I was hoping to get breakfast as it was indicated in GetYourGuide, but none was provided.
Repacking for Toubkal summit
Most of the people were told that their bags too big to go on the mule and I was told I can’t take my duffel bag just a smaller backpack. Everyone was repacking their bags. I was rushing too and trying to squeeze all the things I needed to the backpack. The company really messed up with their description and the messages of what to pack, so do pack correctly.
Only when we finished packing they asked if anyone wants to rent any gear. Some people rented boots, hard jackets and crampons. I asked for crampons too and also asked if I needed an ice axe, but the guide said that we don’t need it as it is winter and that it is mostly needed in summer when there is only ice and little or no snow. I think I paid 60 or 90 MAD for crampons (can’t recall now and I didn’t make a note).
After the gear situation then we had a discussion about the hike itself as some book 2 and some booked 3 day hikes. I booked 3 day one and it costs more, but the guide was saying we should all do the same 2 day hike and the 3rd day will be the extra hike in the valley, which kind of beats the purpose of acclimatisation and ascending slowly. The trip was organised by Marrakech Day Trips – Tours. I would not book them again, but if you wish to do so, do it at your own risk. It was £133 for this, than 2 day would have been around £35 cheaper! I really recommend booking directly with this guide @traveler_guidee, who literally saved my life and I witnessed how caring and how communicable he was, not to mention he spoke perfect English and French as well as Arabic. If you wish his whatsapp number, leave a comment and I will send you an email.
Eventually at 11:50 we left the house at 1700m and started the hike to the mountain, which was quite late in the day. Also the first few kilometers we could have taken the taxi to save effort and time as a lot of cars passed by us when we walked there. The distance to refuge (at 3207m), which we had to reach is around 10-12 kilometers (6-7.5 miles and typically it takes 5-6 hours.
At first the hike was quite easy, but the road became full of stones and it wasn’t easy to walk even with hiking boots. Also the fact that guide was constantly abandoning the group and staying with his mates in various stops to chat didn’t help either. Zero motivation to the group just “Yalla, yallla”, which means “c’mon, c’mon”, but basically he was rushing us to move faster. Few younger guys in the group went ahead quite quickly and it as me with couple women in the back. Well at least I wasn’t the last.
At some point I realised that my head was burning from the sun as I was hiking in t-shirt already, all my jacket tucked away in my string bag. Unfortunately, when rushing to repack my bags I left my sun hat in that apartment in Imlil together with my duffel bag. Luckily I had my bandana, which I tied as a scarf on my head. It did look funny, but it did help!
Once the actual trail started the path was quite bad with big stones and I thought that it is going to be like that all the way up, which was challenging to walk on the road.
Toubkal National Park
Around at 1:00pm we made a stop at Toubkal National Park sign and took some pictures there and then straight after at Gendarmerie Royale, which is basically Police checkpoint for tourist registration. Everyone presented their passports, but one person didn’t take it with them. Luckily they had a copy in the phone and by exception they accepted it.
The road was becoming less defined and more and more rocky, but it was much better as before as it had only smaller rocks and gravel on the path.
There was quite a lot of mule passing up and down. So we had to be cautious and careful when letting them pass as in some of the places the cliffs were quite steep.
The first break we stopped for was at 1:40pm, where we could buy some tea or juice. Juice price was reasonable something like 20MAD.
At 2:18pm we sat down for lunch. The lunch was great, plenty of food for everyone and we got some tea as well. Some people ordered cola, juice, which was extra cost. Of course they forgot my juice order, so I had to chase my guide to ask for them to bring as all of the people who served the food disappear somewhere (in some of those buildings).
They did have toilets in the stops, so you could actually use them free of charge, but it was an experience on it’s own and you might need to squat and then you wash out the toilet with a water from a bucket.
All the way up whenever we met people going down and we said “Hi”, they would reply “Good Luck”, which felt quite ominous and weird. Well we did the same when going down too.
After the lunch the hill was quite steep and uphill all the time. The road was also not very pleasant as it had quite a lot of stones.
We could see quite a lot of waterfalls down the hill of our path.
And finally we could see the snowy tops of the mountains. The air was getting slightly cooler as we climbed higher.
At some point I could see a moon other the mountain tops, which looked spectacular.
I finished the water in my LifeStraw bottle, so I stopped in one of the streams to fill it up. I was extra safe and put the disinfecting tablet in it, just in case.
Occasionally you would see some hikers riding on mules as they couldn’t walk anymore I guess?
A kilometre or two from refuge the path became snowy and in some parts icy and I wasn’t wearing crampons nor anyone else either. Our crampons were riding on the mule to the refuge. So I had to be extra careful not to slip and fall.
Toubkal Refuge
I reached the refuge at 3207m at 6:20 pm and I was exhausted and I’ve made it just in time as sun was setting down already. I do wonder why they don’t leave earlier as some people were still trailing behind me as well.
The dinner was served at 8:00 pm. Since no one explained where to sit, we sat down a the table where it had ceramic plates and proper glasses. Then suddenly our guide Hamza started shouting that this is not for our group and we have to move. I felt uncomfortable and it just sounded so rude. Instead we got plastic dishes. The soup was delicious and as well as Tagine, but all was vegetarian. The dining room was very warm and cozy. I could literally sleep on that soft couch in there.
I’ve chatted with some people sitting next to me at the dinner table. Some actually were staying 7 nights in the refuge and not on a tour (not sure how they organised), but they were planning to hike all the other peaks in the mountain range reachable from the refuge (Timesguida at 4089m, Ras at 4083m, Afella at 4043m, Akioud at 4035m, Biiguinoussene at 4002m) and to hike to the lake Lac d’ifni too. Wouldn’t it be frozen though?
After eating we’ve got the blankets for sleeping. I asked a second blanket and put it underneath me, to keep me warm from both sides. It was quite cold in the shared bedroom, where normally around 24 people can sleep in one room. I was quite cozy in the bed once I jumped into my merino wool base layer, put my merino wool hat and socks and then into my silk sleeping back liner and then wrapped myself in a warm blanket. I was so glad I took my earplugs as there was quite a lot of people in the room and the people kept switching light on and off. At some point I just moved my hat over my eyes as I didn’t have sleeping mask. In the bunk bed I slept lower berth has like 8 places and top another 8 places and the room can host 24 people in total. You might want to pay extra and book a single room, but do arrange that in advance as it can get crowded in popular times.
The electricity was very limited and it did work only at certain period of time in the evening, but I couldn’t find any sockets to charge my phone so used my battery bank. Also going to the bathroom at night it was useful to have a torch as I didn’t want to wake up entire room.
I slept… entire 4 hours or so.
Hiking up Toubkal Summit
I got up around 4:30 am. We ate the breakfast and all were preparing to go to Summit. Well all except the two girls, as they decided in the evening that they won’t attempt to climb as it was challenging enough reaching Refuge.
So we were supposed to leave at 5:00 am, but then we were told that we can’t leave until 5:30 am, so we had to wait a bit. Meanwhile took what I needed from my bag for the hike and just before 5:30 am the guide put he crampons on my shows and we went outside. Nobody explained how to use crampons though, so do read before you go!
It was pitch dark outside. We waited for a bit for everyone from the group to gather and at around 5:30 am we started moving. It was only the lights of the torches that lit our path.
I was going quite slow, so a lot of people were overtaking me, which it was fine by me, but my guide constantly was rushing me “Yalla, Yalla”, which was really annoying. All the other guys from the group was far ahead of us and he stayed with me to guide me to the top. Well at least he was supposed to. Everytime to get my breath back Hamza was asking if I want to go back, instead of motivating to keep going. I just kept saying that I want to take a breath and to that he would reply “So you want to go back?”. I though maybe it was me unable to speak English anymore due to the lack of oxygen or he was just really bad in English.
Around 30min from refuge point I passed the guy whose crampon fell off and his guide told him it was broken, so they were heading back to refuge. After an hour one of my crampons failed too. My guide was kind of happy and said it was broken and we need to head back to refuge. It felt like I climbed almost half of the way and I didn’t want to go back, but without crampons there was no other way. I persistently started asking if there is no way to fix it and he just replied “No”. Then I took the crampon and in 5 seconds I have fixed it (to his disappointment). He helped me to put it on and put the knots on the straps holding it. Though when I googled it says that you shouldn’t put the knots as it can be hazardous and you won’t be able to tighten them.
I kept stopping to get my breath back as I could feel the altitude as we climbed higher. The good thing was I was still supposed to have red blood cells form Inca trail hike, which should help with an altitude. However, the combination of going up in draknes, cold and snow with flickering light on my head made this hike for me much more difficult than climbing to Dead Woman’s Pass (also known as Warmi Wañusqa), which has altitude of 4200m, on Inca Trail, where our hike was on a clear path in sunshine. Also, the guide was not motivating at all, he just kept asking if I want to go back, to which I said no.
The snow was quite easy to walk on, but in one place the snow had a path dug out in it. It was literally up to my waist! The funny thing two scottish guys walked up the whole way in shorts to the top through this snow! I don’t know how they managed it.
I’ve made it just in time to Toubkal ridge, where was a big stone and my guide was hiding there from. thewind. It was really windy and very cold. I was wearing a wind stopper mask.
I had taken just couple photos, when my guide came to me and said I must go to the top now if I want to make it as other guys are going down already. Then he added “You will go alone and I will meet you in Refuge”. I just nodded and I was surprised that suddenly he was speaking good English. I thought to myself “Oh well if I made it up to here I can make it to the top”. Also, giving up at this stage was not an option, though my legs were killing me already.
I was slowly climbing up in zigzag where I could to make my ascend easier. I was breathing heavily and the cold wind was blowing. I was well insulated, so at least I didn’t feel cold. The path sometimes went through the edge of rocks right at he cliff. I was so glad I had my walking poles as I used them to restore my balance couple times. Otherwise I probably would have been at the bottom of the cliff.
Everytime the road twisted I was hoping that the next one I will see the summit sign. The view was stunning and the sky was pretty blue, but I could feel the cold wind on my nose. Those steep edges were a bit scary and I was afraid to lose balance again as my legs were pretty tired.
Finally, the last turn and I could see the summit sign in the distance, just a small hill ahead. Slowly, step by step I was approaching it and finally I was there.
At 9:09 am I reached the Toubkal summit and it was already after the sunset, but the view nontheless was still spectacular. I was really tired even though I was walking really slowly as going faster with low oxygen levels wasn’t an option. I must say when I saw that summit sign I felt a relief that the finish was here. It took me around 3h 30min to get to that pyramidal metal trigonometric marker from the refuge.
I’ve manage to take just a few photos of the summit and couple selfies and another guide took a short video of me and some photos. It was freezing there, but I wanted to capture that moment in my life when I achieved something spectacular. However, it didn’t last long as the same guide who took a photo told me that I should go down with him and shouldn’t go down alone (since my guide left me).
Watch a full video of me going up to Toubkal summit bellow.
Hiking down the Summit
The hike down was much easier, but still I had to pass all those steep twists on the peak to get down. Also going down is easy on the thighs, but puts quite a lot of pressure on your knees.
It was quite quick to get down to the ridge and many people were going down at the same time, so at least I didn’t feel alone, but still had to really watch my step as even with crampons I slipped couple times on ice, so you have really make sure you put firmly those spikes into the ice before making another step. The luckily I didn’t fall.
After the ridge it was even easier as it had quite a lot of snow, but the problem was that my legs were really tired. The guide that I was supposed to go with was really ahead of me with his two french clients and I was just trying to keep up.
At some point I had to go through the same deep snow path again. This time we walked on the edge instead of going inside of it as we did in the morning while it was still dark. I guess it was safer that way when you can’t see the edges.
So I was going and going down and down, and I was getting really tired. The other group’s guide that I was following was quite far away from me. At some point I saw them sliding on the snow and then that idea came to my head, that I could just glissade (just without ice axe) down as the path was very snowy and it was quite deep so I could just go down it. However, I was much higher and it was much steeper than where these guys were sliding on their asses. I don’ t know if it was low oxygen levels up there in the mountain, or tiredness from the hike and little sleep I had last night that lead me to this idea, but since my guide wasn’t there to stop me I decided to do it.
My stupid ass glissade with crampons on
First, I made sure my GoPro is in place on my chest and ready to film, then I just sat on the snow and I just went down the snowy path. Quite quickly I realised that I was going to fast and I tried to slow down with my feet, but the problem was crampons on my feet. Also quite quickly I jumped out of the snowy path when it turned a little bit and I was just sliding the now. I could see the stones approaching and I managed to turn on the side a bit and one crampon just fell off. Luckily, those rented crampons were quite shit as it was probably third time it fell of in this hike and I saw a person with broken rental crampon too. Suddenly that other guide just jumps on me in the opposite motion and I stopped at the spot. I do think I would have stopped quite soon as it was quite flat there and I was slowing down, but yeah thanks that guy I avoided any extra injuries. Who knows what could have happened.
I wish I knew that I had to take off my crampons off when glissading (like explained in the video below). Luckily, I had no injuries, not a single bruise, just one rip in one of my gloves.
After that unfortunate event that finished very lucky, I was sticking to that other group and I was heading down with them.
Just before the refuge the new guide showed us the waterfall of a water spring coming from the mountain. Also, we were walking on the ice on top of the water. In some places it actually had massive holes in the snow and if it would break we would be wet.
Going down through snow from Toubkal mountain summit.
Going down from the refuge
After we got down from Summit to Refuge we had a lunch in Refuge around 1:00 pm and straight after we were heading all the way down to Imlil.
On our way down the mule fell down as it slipped on the ice and our cook, who was also leading the mule started throwing stones at the mule for it to move faster. The mule was limping also it was scared of the icy and slippery road where he fell and that guy just kept throwing stones. It was really cruel. We even offered to our guide that we could carry the bags down ourselves and just let the mule to go on, but he kind of ignored our concern about the mule.
Once I saw the same spring stream I stopped to re-fill my water bottle as I refused to pay €6-10 (60-100 MAD) for a bottle of water in the Refuge. It seems they decide a price by just looking at you. Also, that’s why I had my LifeStraw bottle anyway, so I don’t have to buy water! This time I didn’t even bother to put the chlorine tablet and I must say the water was really delicious and refreshing!
We stopped just in couple of places for drinks on the way down. Some took tea, some orange juice to re-hydrate and to rest a little bit in those stops.
At 3:10pm we reached the same cafe where we ate our lunch on the way up. We had just some tea and juice there to rest the legs. One of the guys wanted to go to the toilet, but he couldn’t find toilet paper. Even the guide or staff at that Cafe had none. Luckily, I had some disinfecting wipes, so he had to use those lol 🙂 You’ve been warned, so be prepared!
One of the girls in the group had massive blisters on he heels. To be honest I’ve never seen them so big! Unfortunately, no one in the group had medical kits or blisters kits with them as we gave it all for the mule to carry up. So we did ask our guide who brought some from the lunch place a box with some bandages and iodine liquid to disinfect. So a lesson learned – always keep your Compede with you!
We did feel being rushed to hike down as our guide Hamza was constantly telling “Yalla, Yalla”. That’s how I got to hate that word!
Once we passed the National Park Sign again and went down that stony path we were in the plain land and we started seeing people with their mules and sheep. Also some children playing with the water streams. Not long after we could see the civilisation – Imlil Village.
This time we didn’t have to walk all that road down to Imlil, but instead we took a taxi from nearby Aroumd village, which guide paid for. 10-15 min later we were in Imlil – the place where we left all our bags when we arrived.
Once we arrived, everyone gave the rented inventory and packed to leave. Few minutes after they all left to Marrakech and I stayed behind for that extra day hike. A woman who had it booked 3 day tour too decided that she is going to Marrakech as it was too cold here and she left with the rest of the group. I wish I have done the same too.
They showed me the room where I am going to sleep and it was freezing cold. It was a triple room with an ensuite shower and toilet, which was convenient. However, the shower was freezing cold too and I didn’t manage to make the water run hot enough to shower! I was really hoping to take a shower, since in refuge showers were cold too, but I quickly gave up on that idea and I just used cold water to wash up. They also provided a towel there, so I didn’t have to wet mine.
I had a dinner, which was served in Tighoula Restaurant terrace and it was really good, but it was very cold to sit there and I was the only one there. Once I came back to the room it was so cold, that I literally put on the heater in front of me and that’s how I slept all night and it was still cold even under a warm blanket and in my thermal clothes. The walls were in such a deep cold that it would take days to heat up the room properly. I was more cold than I was on the top of the hill in the refuge.
Next day hike
Next day I did an extra hike, about which I will write about in another post.
Once finished the hike I had to wait for a lift back to Marrakech for couple of hours.
Eventually, I left by a Van to Marrakech around 4:00 pm and I was told that if I wait for the Van it will take me closer to the accommodation, which was not the case. I was dropped off on the other side of Medina and the driver clearly wanted a tip, which I ignored, after he said he will not take me to my Riad. I was furious as hell. I was so tired after another day of hiking and then waiting to get back to Marrakech and now I had to cross again with my bags entire Medina, back to the North of Medina where my next Riad was booked.
To sum up the hike was painful, reaching the summit was awsesome, organization was terrible and I didn’t get what I paid for also instead of 9 meals advertised I got only 6 meals.
On my way to Morocco I was thinking, what next peak should be. Maybe Kilimanjaro? I’ve heard it is harder than Toubkal.
Tips
- Take sufficient amount of cash (either Euros or MAD).
- Make sure you have enough water (you can buy) and I would recommend to keep a bottle or two for the summit as water there is really expensive. You can stuff it for the mule to carry up.
- Always move to the side opposite to the cliff when mule are passing. Easy to fall off.
- Keep with your bister kits with you (don’t give to the mule to carry).
- Check the weather and you might not need the jacket until Refuge, just a fleece, so then you can give it to mule too.
- Test your light at night. Mine walking over long period made me dizzy as it had a strange flickering.
- Read on how to use Crampons if you never used them.
- If you are hoping to see the big waterfall in Winter, forget it. You probably would be more lucky in Spring though, when the snow melts!
- Take a lot of pictures and videos! I thought I took enough, but now when writing this blog post it seems not enough!
- Plan your Riad to be closer to the South of Medina, so it is easy to get to Hôtel Ali.