Mt. Toubkal Expedition

Our first day together is dedicated to arrivals. You’ll be met at Marrakech Menara Airport by a member of the LHO team and taken to our accommodation in town where your LHO Team Leader will be waiting to greet you and check you in. We usually conduct gear checks shortly after arrival to make sure you have everything you need for our adventure ahead. Those of us arriving early can benefit from exploring the vibrant town of Marrakech with its world-famous markets and souks. Your LHO Team Leader will provide you with our recommendations of things to do and places to visit closer to the time. Our first official event will be a team dinner hosted by your LHO Team Leader and local lead guide. We usually aim to have dinner around 7:30 PM, but your LHO Team Leader will let you know exactly when the meeting time will be once you arrive. Our first dinner together is an opportunity to meet fellow adventurers, learn more about our epic adventure ahead, and ask any questions you may have. The first round of drinks is on us!

We try to get an early start on our first full day of adventure. After breakfast, we’ll check out from our hotel and load up our private shuttle with our bags. For those of us with luggage that we don’t need for the trek, it’s possible to leave it at the hotel storage that you can collect when we’re back. The ride out of town and into the Atlas mountains is absolutely stunning as the plains, fields, and farmlands start to give way to the rolling hills that finally transform into the high-altitude regions of North Africa. The ride ends in the town of Imlil, inside the Imlil valley. This is the last village before the Toubkal National Park. After arriving, we’ll check into our accommodation and have lunch before heading out for an acclimatization hike into the nearby foothills. The aim of our trek is to learn about the steady and sustainable pace we will be following as we trek into altitude over the coming days. It is also to kick-start the process of enabling our bodies to begin the process of acclimatization. As we go higher into altitude, there is less pressure pushing air particles together. Consequently, when a full breath is taken, there is less oxygen being consumed the higher up we go. Our bodies react to this change in circumstances by producing red blood cells to compensate and better enable the efficient transfer of oxygen to our cells. The process of reaching an efficient equilibrium of red blood cells is known as acclimatization. The purpose of our hike to higher altitude only to return to the same accommodation on this day is to get that process started. By sleeping low again, we encourage our bodies to recover more efficiently. After a few hours on the trail, we’ll return to Imlil for dinner at our accommodation and a much-needed night to rest. We will hear a full briefing for the following day from our LHO Team Leader and local lead guide during our dinner.

Distance: 11.1 KM | Ascent: 1,455 M | Descent: 63 M | Max Altitude: 3,164 M

After breakfast, we’ll be met by our full climbing team consisting of our local lead trail guide, our portering team, and our mule caravan leader. We’ll assist the team in the morning with the loading of the mules with our personal duffle bags before setting off on the trail for the relatively short hike to Toubkal Base Camp. The trail begins at the edge of the town and follows a deep valley known locally as a wadi. The wadi follows a southeast trajectory along a ravine that carves its way down the mountain. The wadi then takes a sharp right turn at Sidi Chamharouch where the Sidi Chamharouch shrine is found. We’ll have the opportunity to visit the shrine before having lunch nearby. After a brief siesta, we’ll continue following the wadi in a southwest direction towards the base of Mount Toubkal. As we approach the cluster of refuges built to support trekkers and climbers, the valley becomes noticeably narrower before ending in a basin surrounded by towering ridge lines. The mountain refuge is basic, consisting of beds and mattresses with a common area and a kitchen. Your LHO Team Leader will ensure that the check-in process is smooth and that we set ourselves up comfortably for the night ahead. Dinner will be served at the refuge where we’ll receive our full summit briefing followed by an early night’s rest to recover before our big day ahead.

Distance: 6.6 KM | Ascent: 1003 M | Descent: 1003 M | Max Altitude: 4,167 M

Your LHO Team Leader will let you know exactly what time the wake-up call will be during the dinner briefing on the previous day. This depends entirely on weather and the general pace of the group. We typically get a pre-dawn start with breakfast usually being served at around 4 AM. We won’t need to pack our stuff since we’ll be returning to the same refuge after the summit push. Once we depart from the refuge, we’ll connect immediately with the ascending trail that winds its way up between two ridgelines on either side of us. This is known in mountain lingo as a couloir or mountain corridor. We’ll ascend inside the couloir along a winding trail that typically has traces of snow if it isn’t fully snowed in. Should we encounter snow or ice on the trail, equipment will be provided by us to enable a safe ascent. As we approach the west face of the summit, the couloir widens into a basin necessitating us to veer right and climb onto the right shoulder. The top of the shoulder is the summit ridge. From here, we’ll follow an eastbound trajectory to finally reach the summit of Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa! We’ll take our time at the summit to snap some pictures and enjoy the beautiful scenery that spans the entire Atlas range with views as far as the Sahara desert! Sometimes, when conditions aren’t ideal, we may need to head down after only a limited time at the summit. Once on our way, we’ll retrace our steps along the ridge, down into the basin, and then follow the couloir until we return to the refuge at the base of the ascent. Lunch will be at the refuge where we’ll have the afternoon to recover and enjoy our final night in the mountains.

Distance: 11.1 KM | Ascent: 63 M | Descent: 1,455 M | Max Altitude: 3,164 M

In some instances, it may not be possible to summit on our intended day. That’s why we’ve kept a contingency in place that enables us to climb on this day as well. If we do climb to the summit on this day, then we’ll get an early start and only stop briefly at the refuge for a quick bite before descending all the way back to Imlil and hopping on our ride to Marrakech. If we do manage to climb during our intended window, then we’ll get a late start from the refuge taking our time to enjoy breakfast before loading up our mules and beginning our walk back down. The trail follows the wadi once again, with the ravine following us for the entirety of the trail. If we didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Chamharouch shrine on the way up, then we’ll be able to do so on the descent. The end of the valley links up directly with the town of Imlil, where we’ll make our way back to our guesthouse for lunch and a brief rest. After lunch, we’ll jump on our shuttle for the ride back to Marrakech, where hot showers, warm beds, and a farewell dinner hosted by your LHO Team Leader await. The last round of drinks is on us! Our night will be spent at the same hotel as the one we stayed in on our first night together.

Our last day together is dedicated to airport transfers and farewells. Breakfast is included on this day. Please make sure to provide us with the correct departure details when filling out your Team Details Form prior to the start of the trip. If your itinerary has changed, please be sure to inform your LHO Team Leader as soon as possible for arrangements to be made.