World's Best Hikes 9: Mount Toubkal

In part 9 of our series featuring the world's best hikes, our SportsShoes x Montane ambassador Gerda Lejasmeiere shares her experience of hiking Mount Toubkal in Morocco, the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains and North Africa.

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VISIT KOMOOT FOR A ROUTE MAP & MORE INFORMATION PART 1, PART 2, AND PART 3

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Climbing North Africa's Highest Peak - Mt. Toubkal (4167m)

This was an adventure that I thought I was ready for, I had no doubt in my mind that I could do it as I had been exposed to high altitude before, however, this was my first 4000m summit. Mt. Toubkal, standing at 4167m, took me by surprise. It was mentally and physically the most challenging thing I have EVER done. I found it to be much harder than running a marathon, that I didn't even train for, but that’s a different story.

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There were many factors why this was the case and due to the challenges during the climb, it was even more rewarding to reach the top.

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Mt.Toubkal is probably one of the easiest and cheapest mountains to tackle. If you’re being speedy about it, you can easily do it within 2 days. The flights to Morocco can be bought at decent prices and the tour itself ranges from £125 to roughly £500 per person. We opted for the 2-day trek ourselves, which went against everyone's advice. The recommendation is to do it in 3 days as a minimum, however, as I was a little pressed for time, and with my previous experiences in high altitude, I wasn’t worried and went into it with a lot of confidence.

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Day One

We chose to do this in mid-April, an advised time to attempt this, however, later spring is also recommended, if not more so if you'd rather have less snow to tackle. We started the tour in Marrakech, where it was roughly 30 degrees Celsius. We were picked up from our hotel around 9am by a private transfer. From here it took around 2 hours to drive over to the village called Imlill where the trek started. The village is around 2000m above sea level. Here we stopped at the tour company's basecamp of operations. We were introduced to our guide, given crampons and rented walking poles.

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When we were all packed up and briefed we started the trek. First, we were led through the village and onto the trail and our pace was quite steady at the start. We had to go through a checkpoint, where our guide checked us in. (One thing to note - when going the tourist route, there is a checkpoint and you need to have a guide, however, if you go from the other side, there isn't one apparently and you can get away without hiring a guide. If this is your chosen route, please do extensive research, before attempting). The trail was well-trodden with a gradual incline. We kept a steady pace throughout this part. About 2.5 hours in and halfway through the trek, we stopped for lunch at a cafe on the trail. As all food during the trek was included we didn't have to worry about anything and could just sit down and enjoy a little bit of a rest whilst getting re-energised. The food was very filling, we started our lunch with a traditional sweet Moroccan tea followed by an omelette, pasta and salad as the main meal.

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We all were in high spirits and happy, snapping photos wherever possible as the surrounding area was very scenic. I would say that after lunch, the trail gets harder, as it gets a little steeper and the altitude is higher. There were a few shops/ cafes along the way where we bought some snacks and drinks to help fuel us. Even though we were walking through the valley, the trail gradually inclined more, making the walk much slower. Around 20 minutes before reaching the refuge it started snowing and raining and got really, really cold. We had to wrap up for that last part, but we could already see the refuge in the distance, hiding between rocks, and it gave us the strength to keep going. The trail for this day was only about 10km long, however, it took us around 7 and a half hours to complete it - including breaks.

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When we arrived at the refuge we checked in and headed for dinner. It was very busy and we had pasta and Tajine, a traditional Moroccan dish. At this point I had already been in Morocco for 2 weeks and, I'm not sure if it was because I had been walking all day and was hungry, but this was the BEST Tajine I had whilst in Morocco. After dinner, we had a small brief with our guide before turning in for the night (around 8pm as we were due to wake up at 3 am and set off for the summit at 4 am!). We were all given blankets and slept as a group in these large bunk-style beds, which was quite interesting. I would recommend bringing a sleeping bag for a more comfortable stay.

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Day Two

Day 2 started super early, with all our alarms set for 3am. We woke up, got dressed, brushed our teeth and met up with our guide. We packed our bags with only the essentials, warm and waterproof layers and left everything we didn't need in the storage at the refuge. We were told that once we’re back at the refuge we will have breakfast. We didn’t really question this as we trusted our guide's judgments. After all, if your guide tells you that we’ll go up, come down and then we will eat, how far can it really be? So we gathered some snacks from the little shop inside of the refuge and geared up. Just outside of the refuge, before starting the hike, we were fitted with crampons. It was still very dark outside and we had to use headtorches for the initial part of the trek to the summit. The route itself from the refuge is not very long - it's only about 2.5km to the summit! But oh boy was this hard. Perhaps, a contributing factor to the overall hardness was that we hadn't had breakfast yet! The trail was immediately covered in snow and it was quite steep. The refuge stood at around 3100 metres above sea level and we had around a 1000m elevation to climb within these 2.5km. Even without the altitude, this would be a challenge, however, with the high altitude, this felt incredibly difficult for me.

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When signing up for this expedition, I thought I would be fine as I had already hiked in high altitude in Peru, about a year before this, and had hiked a little in The Alps. However, this time the altitude really hit me. During the climb, about halfway up, I felt dizzy, I could smell blood, my vision was blurry and I could maybe take 10 very slow steps before needing to stop for a moment. There were two points during the ascent where I had tears in my eyes as I felt so bad, I didn't know if I could continue and I felt very emotional as I truly felt like defeat was just a few steps away. There were four of us in the group, plus our guide. One of our friends turned back around half way as they also didn’t feel great and decided to call it and headed down. I imagine it must have been a very difficult decision to make as I was fighting with the same idea in my mind. Call it unwise, but I kept going and kept pushing myself. Perhaps, not the smartest thing to do when you’re experiencing such discomfort in high altitude, however, I also felt like I knew myself enough to know when I truly couldn’t continue. Our guide was also very encouraging and maybe once or twice lied about the distance left to the summit, perhaps just to encourage us.

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Continuing slowly, we soon came to a point where I could see the summit, at this point, I had such a bad headache and it wasn't getting any easier. I had to mentally and physically push myself to continue. When we got to a clearing only roughly 20 minutes to the summit we stopped for a short break and had some biscuits and a sugary drink, which thankfully made me feel better. For the final few metres, I pushed and pushed myself to keep going. During the last stretch I could feel determination fill my body and my pace quickening as the summit was approaching.

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Once we reached the summit I sat down for a moment in silence - I was exhausted! Sitting on this rock 4167 metres above sea level, I observed my mind and my breath. The world seemed oddly calm, there was no wind, the sun was shining and to be completely honest, we couldn't have asked for a better day. The views were stunning at the top and it was even warm - well, with all the gear on! We took some photos at the summit, met another group of hikers who reached the summit just after us and, prompted by our guide, we headed back down to the refuge. It took us just under 5 and a half hours to get to the summit. Five and a half hours to complete a 2.5 km hike! It seems surreal. I underestimated the trail and the altitude on this one and I am so glad that I rented walking poles from the guide company as without these I wouldn't have been able to complete the trek.

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The Way Down

The way down was a little quicker, but we still had to be very cautious as the trail was very steep. About half way down one of my crampons broke, and despite multiple attempts from our guide to fix it, there was no luck, so for the rest of the descent, I continued without one! This made it trickier as it was super slippery in the snow. Again, my walking poles worked wonders! Once we were back down at the refuge it was finally time for breakfast, at 12pm! Just under 8 hours later and after 5 km covered it was finally time to have breakfast… I believe our guide had overestimated us as he most likely thought we would be a bit quicker and the descent was a lot slower than planned due to the broken crampon.

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When we got back to the refuge, just before eating, we sat outside for a moment. I had my head in my hands, I couldn't even think and it felt like I couldn't move. The headache I had at this point felt unbearable. We took some painkillers and had a meal. We were super tired and wished we had booked the longer tour instead of the 2-day tour as we still had over 10km to walk back to the village, where a transfer was waiting to take us back to Marrakech. Regardless of how we were feeling, we had no real choice and just had to gather our strengths and head down the valley. Now, I fully understand why everyone we spoke to about climbing Mt Toubkal said not to do it in 2 days and to take at least 3 days. My advice is now the same! For me, this has been the hardest thing I've had to do mentally and physically, and I am so glad of the achievement of completing the climb! I believe the altitude hit me so hard because we had no time to adjust to it! We came all the way from sea level to 4167 m above sea level within 24 hours, whereas in Peru the altitude climb was gradual, even if the total altitude level was higher.

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As dreaded as the trek back to the village of Imlil was, the further along the trail we travelled and the lower we climbed, the better we felt. Only an hour and a half into the trek we stopped for lunch. At this point we felt energised again, my headache was gone and I was very happy to have achieved what I set out to do. I devoured the food placed in front of me. The trail wasn’t difficult to descend. It was a steady decline and we were heading down pretty fast. What took us roughly 7.5 hours to climb took us only 4 and a half to come down.

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Conclusion

Would I recommend this peak? Absolutely! It's a great challenge and a great 1st 4000m summit. And to be honest, I am looking at doing it again as I want to prove to myself that I can do better. Plus, if I want to summit higher peaks, which I do, it will be great for training. My recommendations for this trek would be to drink plenty of water and head to bed early on the 1st day at the refuge. The climb is steep and challenging and you’ll need your energy. I would also advise you to insist your guide allow you to have breakfast before heading to the summit, even if they tell you it will be quick. You will need the energy and I do believe that not being properly fuel was a factor as to why it was so difficult for me. Another thing to factor in is that there was still snow on the peaks, the later in spring you go the less snow you will have. For gear, I wore my trusty Salomon Cross Hike GTX walking shoes for this and they were great! With regards to clothing: layers, layers, layers! Honestly, they are so important. When we started the hike it was 25 degrees outside and -7 at the top of the peak. I opted for my Montane Ineo Tights at the start of the hike and for the summit push I wore the Montane Women’s Ineo XT Pants to keep me warm for the climb. I also chose to take my Montane Anti Freeze Down Jacket to keep me warm, however I ended up using this only at the summit while we were sat still.

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Follow Gerda and all her outdoor komoot adventures here

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