UKC

Currently interested in walking Toubkal in summer if anyone wants to team up? Or if any groups are going would be very keen to join.

Looking to smash it in about four days. Have done plenty of mountaineering adventures within uk, regularly take groups of kids out, training them to navigate, however very little experience outside the uk and therefore thought Toubkal would be a good start.

Gives a shout if interested .

In reply to Steve434:

Thwo days should be enough. I was there over December when the conditions were some of the worst. Unfortunately we didn't summit.

Day 1: Walk up from Imlil to Refugio. Easy walk.

Day 2: Summit Toubkal from the Refugio, leaving unnecessary kit at Refugio, then back down to Imlil, passing by the refugio to pick stuff up.

In reply to Steve434:
If your question is regarding a personal ascent I'm sure you'll have little difficulty in summiting Toubkal over the time you suggest. A fit british mountain walker can do Imlil to Toubkal to Imlil in a couple days. If you're thinking of taking a group of kids then I'd be very much more cautious. We were in Morocco last summer with an expedition company (Outlook Expeditions) their itinerary for Toubkal ascent was day 1 walk from Imlil/Aremd to refuge, Day two Acclimatisation walk to 3700m descend to refuge, day three summit day four descent to Imlil/Aremd.
It is brutally (and I mean brutally) hot arriving in Marrakech in summer, mid 40s Celsius in the shade, some of the kids found the going tough and the altitude a problem and were much more challenged by the walk in from Imlil than you might think. There was a recent,tragic, well documented (and I think well discussed on this forum?) case in the High Atlas involving a British school party and an equally reputable expedition company. Don't risk a group ascent unless you're absolutely on top of safety and risk management...Its not Skiddaw or Ben Lomond.
(edited for grammar-a.o)

In reply to Steve434:

Also be very careful about water quality and cutlery /crockery/drinking bottle hygiene high on Toubkal. Its very dusty up there and there is considerable evidence of unsanitary conditions especially around the refuge and the popular group camping ground a couple of hundred metres or so below. I'm not trying to put you off just telling it like it is. To be honest having been there in summer and winter I'd be much more tempted to return in winter conditions (about now in fact).
Winter ascent nothing more technical than a very long neve slope.

In reply to Steve434:

No no I won't be taking kids just me and who ever wants to...teaching in a school I know the sort of paper work required for that sort of thing. All I want to do is turn up smash it and go home, all I need is a partner or two who is free....

But cheers for the advice guys..

In reply to Steve434:

Personally I think its a shame so many folk do Toubkal quickly, just to tick it. Far better to spend a week exploring the high mountain passes, valleys and villages around it and then finish with an ascent. Apart from anything else, it means you're properly acclimatised and its much easier.

Saying this, I do understand the attraction, and hope you have a great trip.

We did it by climbing at night (Sept), setting off at 2am and summiting just in time to watch the sun rise over the distant Sahara. Unforgettable. If you're happy navigating in mountains at night, its an option I would definitely consider. The track is mostly obvious but I seem to remember the first part might have been less so, and we were guided.

In reply to Steve434:

If you haven't already seen it, I'd recommend Des Clark's excellent "Mountaineering in the Moroccan Atlas" (Cicerone) and "Moroccan Atlas, the trekking guide" by Alan Palmer (Trailblazer).

People often arrive at the Toubkal huts at 3200 mts, having come from sea level, suffering from altitude sickness (we encountered a Brit there in a very bad way). Good hydration and a measured pace are strongly advisable.

This video is primarily about our ice climbing trip but there is a link in it that takes you to various posts you might find of interest. They cover the walk in from Imlil, via Sidi Chammharouch up to the Mouflons hut (we preferred it to the Nelter hut in the same vicinity), as well as an ascent of Toubkal (spectacular views of Sahara and Atlantic ocean). http://www.kragrags.com

It was 27 C in Marrakech in January, I imagine it could be pretty uncomfortable in the summer.

In reply to Steve434:

hardly think Smash it is the right words, its a walk in summer,just higher than usual and bloody hot,I cant think why anyone would really want to do it in Summer..

In reply to Steve434:

Hi Steve,
I am certainly up for this trip. I climb allot in Scotland during winter and Alps in the summer although I have just done my first winter season in the Alps. When are you thinking?

In reply to MarcJLangley:
I echo Bilbo's point...quite a lot of people who travel from Marrakech to the refuge in one day experience AMS and are in no state to get up early the next morning and climb Toubkal. It's a good idea to add an extra day to your programme just in case and spend the night before you walk to the hut in Imlil or Armed.

Here's another video showing a winter version of the summer work, by the North Cwm. In summer, you'd be better going up the North and down the South.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRP9mG5yTJc&list=UUtnLmixddxEMCRab2xwBYqw