Trip Reports

Winter Toubkal Climb - January 2026

Written by Leader, January 2026

The heaviest snowfall in nine years began to fall as we arrived in the Berber mountain village of Imlil at 1800 metre - from where the ascent of Toubkal begins. Even getting to the start was an adventure as we had to walk the last 4 kms up the mountain road as the snow defeated our minibus. The reality of the huge amount of snowfall became apparent the next day when our 'gentle acclimatisation walk' saw us exhaustingly ploughing through two feet of virgin snow, taking four and a half hours with plenty of stops to gain just 400 metres of ascent. Fortunately the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the mountains looked magnificent glistening under fresh snow. We also had a secret weapon in the form of Jowad, our super fit 27 year old local Berber guide, who we cunningly put at the front to plough a furrow for us all to follow! All very tiring but strangely enjoyable.

Unfortunately, but wisely and understandably the Park Authorities had decided to close Toubkal for four days due to the extremely high avalanche risk higher up. This was an unprecedented occurrence but one accepted with good grace and understanding by the whole team as sound mountain judgement remains the cornerstone of mountaineering.

Adaptability on expeditions is always a key attribute and so a 'Plan B' was formulated which saw us tackle different passes on day outings from Imlil. These were excellent outings in their own right climbing up steep steps and narrow alleyways through the ancient Berber mountainside villages where whole families were out shovelling snow off their flat roofs. Each day the sun continued to shine, the snow continued to glisten and each afternoon we returned weary legged to another sumptuous traditional Moroccan tagine meal cooked by Ali - our very own expedition cook - always smiling and voted by all as the best cook in Imlil!

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