Winter in the High Atlas Mountains

Marrakech, Imlil and beyond

We set aside one night to experience the hustle & bustle of Jema el-Fnaa, the main square and souk marketplace in Marrakesh‘s medina quarter (old city). The place transforms at dusk,  people come out for an early evening promenade and the square gradually fills until it becomes a whole carnival of storytellers, acrobats, musicians and entertainers.The following day we head 50 miles south, away from the mayhem to Imlil a small Berber village on the outskirts of the high Atlas Mountains. At 1740 metres above sea level it is the starting point for most people heading up into the high atlas for trekking. The Atlas mountain range is special in that it is a natural barrier between the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines and a buffer to the Sahara Desert. The mountains extend almost 2400 kilometers through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

From Imlil it’s a steady 6 hr trek to the huts with about 1500m of ascent. Passing through Aroumd (rugs) and the half way point of Sidi Chamharouch, where the snow line begins, here we have to negotiate over the mule/porter ?!, the path then leads over the stream and runs steeply uphill to the right side of the Isougouane valley and becomes a trudging snow plod. It’s certainly possible to do this with no support if you have a large rucksack and no other luggage. However, bear in mind the ascent and altitude and you may decide to use the excuse of “supporting the local economy” and take a mule. We chucked our kit in large duffel bags to include ice climbing and extreme weather gear & some food in addition to normal winter mountaineering stuff. Note :mules don’t go above the snowline. So make sure you arrange a porter bend otherwise you will have to struggle with your own bags and rucksacks…

Les Mouflons hut & Base camp 3207 metres

The private Les Mouflons hut has no heating at all but they have a roaring log fire going in the main room and do some great carb loaded meals in the evening and simple breakfast. We stay here for the next four nights and although it is below freezing in the dorm we like it. You need a good, warm sleeping bag for the hut & spare clothing and and ice scraper for the window in the morning, so factor this in when deciding for or against the use of a four legged friend to carry your gear…

At the end of each day there’s time to relax, dry your wet stuff in front of the fire and practice speaking a multitude of languages as per the other trekkers staying at the refuge, before dinner at around 7pm. As early starts are the norm in most mountain huts, early nights are advisable, however there is a fire in the communal area and some guests do stay there until late especially if they have already summited and are heading back to Marrakech.

  

Jebel Toubkal (4167m)  

The highest and most climbed peak in North Africa, we plan to climb it via the North cwm north col route to experience the mountain at its best and hopefully to ourselves, so an early start was required in order to get back down before the deep snow started melting making it a tiring slog. Conditions were cold, but perfect, with the snow having a hard crust on the walk down the valley, very quickly the ground steepens and it’s a bit of a drag up to the cwm, we are looking out for an aircraft wreckage but there is no sign of it with the deep snow covering, so we head for a prominent broad gully at the back of the cwm, It’s a straight forward Grade 1 gulley but the effects of altitude make for slow progress, at the top we hit the ridge line and turn right and a steepening scramble leads us towards the summit plateau and the first glimpse of the summit Triangle after 5/12 hrs. We have the summit to ourselves, photos done, views admired it’s time for the descent, we take the South cwm south col route via Tizi n Toubkal, it’s a steady route and it’s the first time we come across other people all day, we arrive back at the hut after about 8 hrs.

 

Ice climbing in the Sun !

We dedicated ourselves a full day for this in between the two 4000 metre mountaineering days, the objective today was to walk the shortest distance to get the most ice climbing done, both of which were satisfied. We found a gorge with a frozen waterfall a short walk south from the hut and abseiled in to the base of the climbs; we set up a few different climbs and spent an amazing day ice climbing in the warm sun.

Akioud (4030m) (via Tizi Afella)

The plan today was to head further south than we ventured yesterday into Amrharas n-Iglioua and take the North north-west ridge (PD+) to the summit. At least that was the plan anyway until we decided to take a diversion due to the snow being soft as the sun was already out in full force, this resulted in us heading for the shade where the firmer snow was and as a result we arrived at Tizi Afella. This was not recommended in the guidebook as it necessitates an awkward descent, traverse and re-ascent back up to the NNW ridge! The snow condition looked good so we took the challenge, ice axes gripped firmly in hand, we were not disappointed, some great exposure on the traverse with steep slopes falling away to our right, leading us onto the final ridge line to scramble to reach the summit. Once again we sat at the summit on our own watching the ant like people on the busy neighbouring summits of Ras and Timesguida.