UKC

Has anyone been Mountain Biking in the Atlas in Morocco?

When is best to go?
Can anyone recommend a company to organise & support a trip/ holiday?
Any other advice or views would be welcome please.

Thanks

In reply to blurty: I've been with Exodus on their Atlas Descent trip. It was an excellet trip, fully supported and interesting places to stay. I think it's still Liz that's the guide and she's very good. Only got good things to say about it really.

We went in February. They tend to run them when the weather isn't too hot and actually, the riding is more in the Anti Atlas rather than the High Atlas

In reply to blurty: I went in late Paril with freeride morocco http://www.freeridemorocco.com/
It was an excellent trip - well organised and perfect mix of singletrack and easier climbs on wider trails. I would happily recommend them if you're looking for some "proper" riding and not an "off-road" tour that's actually just un-paved roads.

In reply to Missile:

We went with Exodus as well a good number of years ago now on the Atlas descent. http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/mma/overview

Having the support vehicles was good (when the electrics weren't igniting or the driver's seat falling out the door), the guiding less so - the guide was too focussed on biking IMHO - and his specific type of biking (loose rocky climbing he was into).

Yeah - I know biking holiday ... but it's a biking holiday *in Morocco* - I think we got about 4 hours combined through the whole week able to be spent sight-seeing. Oh and a "mandatory" 2 hour hard sell in a rug shop.

In reply to blurty:

Thanks all

In reply to blurty: I went with Exodus in 2008. Overall it was a good trip with a variety of trails but very little single track. Many un paved roads of various standards.

The food was good but everyone on the trip was laid up with a stomach bug at some point. I suppose that is to be expected on a wild camping trip through the mountains.

The only complaint I would have is the tipping of the guides. It's not the fact that it's expected or the size of the tip. It's that you only get told about this when you arrive. If you are doing the trip on a budget this can be embarrassing. I would have been happier if it was stated in the literature that this was expected. I climbed Kilimanjaro with Exodus the following year and it was the same tipping situation on this trip and we had people who were on a tight budget. This did cause some friction within the group.

Apart from that, it was good.

In reply to blurty:

I did the circuit of mt Toukbal with exodus quite a few years ago, maybe 2005? It was ace, really only positive things to say about it. I had been a bit sniffy about going on an organised trip after a few years of doing it all myself but have to say it was really good.

We flew to Tangier and spent a week travelling down to Marrakech where the trip started from so we had a week to see a bit of the country. The a week MTBing, and a few days after to go to the coast (essouira which was ace) and a few days in marrakech then home from there.

The biking trip with exodus really is about biking and you go thru some pretty remote places so its not a sightseeing tour with lots of time to look around places, do that before or after.

Ali