Ski Touring in Morocco
The Independent, 25 Feb 2006
By Simon MillerBelieve me; from 4167m the view east into the Sahara dessert is truly spectacular. Snow-covered mountains, terracotta coloured valleys and beyond, the Sahara – breathtaking.
Jbel Toubkal is the highest mountain in Morocco and an amazing vantage point for what must rank as one of world’s best views.
I had come to be here in mid January after meeting Mustapha the previous summer: strangely he was wearing an official Tignes ski instructor jacket. It was this slightly incongruous article of clothing and the consequent conversation that resulted in me calling my friend and ski touring partner, Paddy to ask him if he fancied “mule ski touring” in Morocco.
From the conversation with Mustapha, I knew we were in for something a bit special. I had told him I loved skiing and ski touring in particular. The sense of escape, of freedom, of adventure and camaraderie is what makes ski touring. I told him about ski touring in the Alps. The great fun, the hard work but the reward of some fantastic views and the occasional incomparable ski down through un-tracked powder. He smiled in recognition and with a look of someone, who senses they are about to tell you something you will find deeply appealing. Mustapha told me he could match everything European ski touring could offer, but with lighter snow and, this is the crucial bit, even lighter loads. He would furnish us with mules to carry our packs and skis when necessary. With my knowledge of the hospitality afforded by the Kasbah Toubkal this might even be the winter adventure ski holiday I dreamed of luring (sorry gently persuading) my wife to come on. But first, a reconnoitre with Paddy.
Kasbah Toubkal is the lifework and vision of Omar 'Maurice' Ait Bahmed. He has successfully blended three things to make this an award winning hotel. The basis of everything is traditional Berber hospitality; added to this are western levels of comfort and hygiene and finally a program of tours/expeditions/and adventures that squeeze every last bit of life experience from the surrounding landscape. His achievement was recognised by online travel agent responsibletravel.com, when they awarded Kasbah Toubkal the winner of the mountain category in the Responsible Tourism awards 2004.
Paddy and I know we are in for a different holiday when the taxi from Marrakech (only 40 miles away) stops in the middle of Imlil the highest village (1700m) we would reach, and yet there is no sign of the Kasbah. Before we could muster halting French to make enquiries two porters load our packs onto a mule. The Kasbah is not on the main road; or rather Maurice did not want the main road extended to the Kasbah because it would deny the local porters/mule owners their livelihood.
After a short walk up a rocky path (tip – if you are coming straight from the office make sure you are not wearing slip-on shoes) we are shown to suites that would grace any five star hotel in the world. The wife would definitely like this.
The Kasbah is all about comfort. Lots of richly coloured carpets and lanterns, wood-burning stoves, cosy tucked away alcoves and the smell of freshly brewed mint tea. A lot of ski touring is about hard work in return for tremendous rewards. Kasbah Toubkal was upsetting this balance for the better.
To date all my skiing had been in the Alps and it was difficult to adjust to the fact that here we were, on a ski touring holiday in Africa. But there were constant reminders; figs, dates and freshly - I mean picked that day from local trees – squeezed orange juice for breakfast.
The next very welcome change to alpine ski touring is the provision of mules whenever possible. There are some who would say this was cheating, but I cast my mind back to those Victorian climbers who had porters, guides and cooks for climbing every last hillock and decided this was true, traditional ski touring.
We set off carrying a camera and not much else. The mules carried everything else including table and chairs for our mid-mountain picnic. Lunch was served at the Chamharouch shrine 2400m. On arrival we were beckoned to a fully laid table in the sun. Omar, the cook was already busy on the first of what would turn out to be a series of culinary miracles. I can’t cook this well at sea-level with a fully equipped kitchen. Omar rustles up fantastic soups, omelettes and tagines on a camping stove.
All the hospitality in the world cannot (and should not) take away from the fact that getting to the refuge at 3200m would not be easy. After lunch we transfer to skis using skins to slide up a gradual, unrelenting climb. All in this would turn out to be 7 hour day.
For ski touring you need regular carving skis with special ski touring bindings that allow the heel to release when climbing and can be fixed for skiing down. Re-movable skins for the bottom of the skis enable you to go uphill.
In the same way that Berber hospitality cannot miracle you up the mountain; it cannot make a freezing cold refuge at 3200m warm. The contrast to a suite with a sunken bath and all modcons, to a room with bunk beds for 30 people, where you could see you own breath, was a reminder of good old alpine ski touring.
Hassan, our guide briefed us on the next day. A vertical kilometre to the summit; skins to 4000 meters and then a scramble up to the peak. “Easier or more difficult than today”, we asked, more in hope than expectation. “More difficult”.
He was not wrong but as with ski touring anywhere in the world there seems to be a ratio of effort to reward. This was no exception. The climb is steep and precarious, requiring 3 hours of zig-zagging, but finally the summit. What a view, what a place and out of Hassan’s rucksack, one more surprise - a mini bottle of champagne to accompany our picnic.
After a short break the descent. At first we edged our way gingerly down from the peak. This lead to my only moment of real angst. We really ought to have had crampons on and have been roped together, and Hassan ought to have had an ice axe to either cut steps or arrest a slide should one of us fall.
This type of ski touring is about the pleasure of being in the mountains – it is not about finding great powder fields to float down. Having said that you always live in hope and on this occasion we were blessed with four or five pitches of glorious knee deep powder. Bouncing down uncut powder pistes with not a soul in sight is one of the perks of ski touring. Inevitably, as you descend, the snow conditions change, and the dreaded “breakable crust” needs to be negotiated.
Hassan did a great job keeping us as high as possible along a 3km traverse. The longer he could keep us on good snow the less clumping down in ski boots we would have to endure. In the end, we only had a 20 minute walk back to the shrine where Omar had prepared another mountain culinary miracle. One more good dose of ski touring Moroccan style – having made it to the shrine and more importantly the mule station we could off-load our skis and packs and change into more comfortable walking boots for the hike back to Kasbah.
The prospect of a Hammam (steam bath), a soak in a beautiful sunken bath and some mint tea make for a very light-footed descent. I felt I’d earned it, having put in back to back 7 hour days.
Maurice built Kasbah Toubkal with a very clear vision. To use local people and local materials to provide a first class Berber holiday experience. The tours provide employment for cooks, porters, muleteers, hut guardians, guides not to mention local salesmen. You can find cheaper holidays, but if you compare the cost to the intensity, wealth and sheer quality of experience I think you would struggle to find better value.
Ending our ski trip to Morocco with some haggling in the souks of Marrakech underlined just how different a ski destination this is. As more and more people are looking for their umpteenth visit to top alpine ski Next year I think I’ll be able to persuade my wife to come along.
Morocco will never take over from the Alps as a ski destination, but as more and more people are looking for a change from their usual ski holiday, Morocco is definitely a place to consider.
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Fact File
If climbing to 4167m is not to your taste there are countless other tours of varying lengths on offer from 20 day trips to the Sahara to 3 day tours of local villages. The ascent of Jbel Toubkal costs E225 per person including all food and accommodation. Rooms in the Kasbah range in price from E140 to suites at E270.
Royal Air Maroc fly daily from London Heathrow to Marrakech (via Casablanca). For more information visit www.royalairmaroc.com.
The Kasbah does have ski touring equipment but I would thoroughly recommend hiring, or better still, buying your own equipment. Snow and Rock is the best place to get yourself kitted out. www.snowandrock.com.
For more information on holidays that are great fun as well as being socially and environmentally responsible visit www.responsibletravel.com .
Interested? Take a look at our Morocco and skiing holiday pages.