Guidebook research trips and routes

We have a number of trips / routes we wish to do for our forthcoming guidebook on Mountaineering in the High Atlas. 

The majority of these routes will be in winter (conditions) and so whilst we will be organising the logistics etc, these research trips are not in any way a guided trip. Rather they should be treated as self-supported mountaineering trips and as such any person that wishes to accompany us on these trips should be a proficient mountaineer in their own right.

To reflect that these trips are not guided per se but nevertheless all the planning, logistics, transport, food and accommodation will be organised and covered by us, the daily rate we would see as appropriate for these trips would be € 50 per person / per day. 

The trip length can be as little as 2 days and up to a week or more and will cover the entire spread of the High Atlas range.

If you would like to join us on this basis, then please follow this link and give us a brief resume of your mountaineering experience; the time of year you are available / would like to join us; how many days you are available for; anything else that you think may be important!

Lammergeier alive and well in Oukaimeden

We've written about this fabulous bird before in various blogs. So it is great to receive an email from a Spanish ornithologist who spotted them recently in the ski resort area of Oukaimeden in the Moroccan High Atlas mountains - not a million miles away from the Toubkal massif.

Some great photos on Teo's blog (like the one above!) 

Take a look on this link.

Thanks Teo for your photos and email.

Refuge below Mgoun 4068m

The mountain refuge situated on the Tessaout plateau on the south side of the Tarkeddit ridge is a good base for tackling the north side of Mgoun 4068m, the highest peak in the Moroccan High Atlas outside of the Toubkal massif. This area which is prone to large snowfalls in the winter, creates its own weather patterns regardless of the time of year and temperatures others are experiencing in different areas of the country.

 

I well remember the time one August when I was experiencing daily (cold!) hail storms that were producing impressive flash floods in the Mgoun region whilst my family on the southern side of the mountains were wishing they owned a swimming pool such was the heat!

The Terkeddit Refuge is privately owned by a Marrakech based company and has been built beside the sight of an old refuge which is now only evidenced by some low stone broken down walls. Whilst the new (5 years or so) refuge is comfy, it is bearing the brunt of the cold and damp climate and its flat roof has allowed significant damp discolouration and peeling of paint etc on most of the internal ceilings. It's still better than a tent though!

The warden of the refuge has now been issued with a Thuraya satellite phone which unless you have your own satellite phone with you (we always carry one to this region) is the only communication to the outside world. Technically therefore it is possible to phone the refuge direct - the company's website suggests between the hours of 9-10 in the morning and 4-5 in the afternoon (local time).
The satellite number is:- 00 88 216 51073576 and again as per the company's website it is "Il est gardé toute l’année"

All that by way of introduction to a recent story we received by email from an independent mountaineer:-

We had a great trip, v intense for just 6 days ; found a great gites in Agouti recommended by a mountain guide we met on the bus from Marrakesh.

It took us about 11 hrs to get the hut, just as it was falling dark , with a howling wind, only to find out that there was no warden there and the doors firmly locked (despite assurances we'd been given at the gite, and the huts web site!). This was a disappointment I can tell you. My partner was all for breaking the door down but we did have a small tent and stove etc and were fairly comfortable apart from a bit of a battering from the wind.

Next day we felt a bit alone and exposed and still had the pass to get back over so instead of tackling MGoun we hightailed it out. Once down in the Arous valley we asked a Berber farmer to give us a roof over our head for the night and were treated like visiting royalty, quite an experience: lovely people admiring our expensive kit, slept over the goat herd in the barn, great bread , argan oil ; mint tea, lamb tagine and scrambled eggs for breakfast! Next day wandered back to Agouti, and flagged a taxi down for a wild ride back to Azilal.

Feel free to give the hut people feedback!

So there you have it - make sure (somehow!) that the guardian is at the refuge before you head off.

Or bring a tent!.....

John Evans

John David Evans, an experienced mountain rescue team member died tragically in a fall whilst climbing in Snowdonia, North Wales. The accident took place 2 weeks ago at Clogwyn Y Grochan in the Llanberis Pass.

John aged 54, was a member of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team. He was out enjoying a social climb with his partner Lynne when the accident happened. They had just climbed the route Nea, when John fell a considerable distance whilst descending a gully. Fellow rescue team members rushed to his aid but were unable to save his life. North Wales police are currently working with the Mountain Rescue Team to establish the exact cause of the accident.

John lived in Capel Curig and was an accomplished and experienced climber, having spent time as a mountain guide in Alaska as well as being a knowledgeable instructor in technical rescue rope work. 

He was largely responsible for encouraging the writer, Des Clark to gain the Wilderness EMT award last year in Glenmore Lodge, Scotland.

More information and photos can be seen on the following blog post:-

2009 Mountaineering Season: John Evans

Building styles in Morocco

Traditional style village house in the Western High Atlas

High winds on Tinergwet

No it's not a photo of the Himalaya! Jebel Tinergwet west ridge at over 3000m (north of Taroudant in the Moroccan Western High Atlas) is just one of the peaks that is being subjected to strong N/NW winds at the moment. The weather is to remain unsettled, cloudy and light snow falls up high and fresh to strong N winds until the weekend.....

Coffee shop (if only!) weather indeed.

Information on Morocco

The difficulty with the internet now is that there is so much information "out there" that is possible to spend hours trawling through various websites to find exactly what you're looking for! 

Morocco for example. Well stop looking! If it's mountains or trekking related our 2 websites should suffice:-

ToubkalMountainGuides.com (for Toubkal area obviously) and NomadicMorocco.com (for the Western High Atlas and Mgoun regions).

If it's culture, news, information, observations, articles, Fes, Fes festivals, U2 (our old class mates - yes it is true - look at the "U2 by U2" book to see a photo of Des Clark standing beside David Evans, aka The Edge!) - whatever you need to know of Morocco on the internet can be pretty much found on the Riad Zany blog "The View from Fez".

Check it out, learn lots and save yourself grief and time!

North Atlantic oscillation and the Moroccan High Atlas

A recent client of ours on a ToubkalMountainGuides trip where we endured fresh deep snow (yes we are talking about the Moroccan High Atlas!), reminded us of the North Atlantic oscillation. Of course!

So here's the Wikipedia link for some light reading. Certainly it would appear from the winter of 2008/9 that the NAO index is low. Westerlies are suppressed and cold winters and storms track southerly toward the Mediterranean Sea. This brings increased storm activity and rainfall to southern Europe and North Africa.

Oh yes!

Have we turned a corner?

After last week's (record) rainfall in Morocco and snowfall in the High Atlas mountains including Mgoun, Tinergwet and Toubkal, there is at last sunshine and warmer temperatures! 

Taroudant mid-day to-day recorded 36 degrees with some 12 degrees lower in the shade. The forecast is for predominantly settled weather although some clouds Monday may bring some light rain to places.

Last weeks snow fell as low as 1600m on south facing aspects and 1200m on the northside. Temperatures this week though have meant a lot of this lower snow has melted and the snowlines have receded on both sides by around 800m.

Olive trees and snowy mountains

The last few days have brought fresh snow to the High Atlas mountains - with even some snow on the lower south facing slopes!

The photo taken this afternoon shows the highest most western summits of the Moroccan High Atlas - (left) Jebel Tinergwet 3551m and (right) Awlim 3482m as seen from Taroudant in the Souss valley.

The forecast for the week is clear, mainly settled weather with temperatures rising at the end of the week.

Enjoy the High Atlas with NomadicMorocco!

Current weather / snow for the High Atlas

Warmer southerly winds on the 30th and 31st December which raised the snowline to around 2700m on N & NE facing slopes released about half a metre of new snow above 3250m. This has now stabilised and the current spell of cold northerly winds and blue skies seems set to continue until the end of the week.

Wrap up well....!

The official Maroc Meteo daily bulletin in French is available on this link.

More snow forecast for the High Atlas

As we write this, it is raining heavily outside in our patio!.... which means snow up high on Toubkal, Mgoun and other High Atlas peaks! Given the current temps at the moment the snow is likely to be falling above 2500m on all slope aspects.

The forecast for the coming week is mixed - some sun (not much!) with heavy snow showers Tuesday evening / night with wind direction SSW.

The daily Moroccan meteo (in French) is available on-line at http://www.marocmeteo.ma/meteo/bulletin.asp

Stay safe....

2009 winter trips & prices - Christmas offer!

Hello everyone. Maybe some of you have been keeping an eye out on weather forecasts for the Moroccan High Atlas, Toubkal or Mgoun areas?! Well in case you missed out - there is certainly ample snow around already for our winter Toubkal ascents and snowshoeing trips in the Mgoun region with some record falls in early November.



The current economic woes and falling level in the GBP rate against the Euro (and also the Moroccan dirham) have made things difficult for our UK clients and whilst our trips are (we believe!) costed competitively against other operators given our low client to guide ratio and that we do not out-source our trips to anyone else, often it seems that it is the bottom line figure that is the decider rather than what services etc are offered before and during a particular trip.

So to help those in the GBP sterling zone, we are prepared to discount our prices by €40 per trip for all new individual bookings and €100 per trip for all joint bookings (2 persons) received by the end of the Christmas period (i.e. midnight on the 5th January 2009).
This offer applies purely to people resident in the UK and is valid from now on the trips specified below for which there are (at the time of writing) 2 or more places available on the trip in question. To get an up-to-date availability status, go to our TMG blog entry which is updated daily.

Jan 26 - 30 Toubkal Winter ascent IFNI
Feb 16 - 20 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY
March 14 - 22 Mgoun 4068m Winter ascent
March 15 - 22 Winter / Expedition course
April 6 - 9 Toubkal Winter ascent IMLIL
April 13 - 17 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY

Details of the Toubkal trips are available on this pdf link.
Details of the Mgoun Winter ascent trip is available on this pdf link.
Details of the Winter / Exped training course is available on this pdf link.

Stay safe in the mountains over the holiday period wherever you go. Remember to avail of weather and avalanche information services where they exist and to heed them. Enjoy!


Happy Christmas!

International Mountain Day

Today is International Mountain Day as designated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN. This year the theme is of food security in mountains.


It is an apt occasion to reflect on how hard it is for mountain people to consistently get adequate and nutritious food to lead healthy and active lives. Priorities for improving food security in mountains include promoting and expanding traditional mountain crops; safeguarding indigenous land use practices; improving breeding programmes of mountain-adapted livestock; better market access; and mountain-specific public policy, developed with the participation of mountain people.

More specific information can be had at http://www.fao.org/mnts/intl_mountain_day_en.asp

Through the work of the AMAN Trust, we at NomadicMorocco are trying to play some small part in the sustainabiity of remote Berber communities far away from the touristic scenes of Imlil, Toubkal, Mgoun etc.

Large image map of the Moroccan High Atlas

We're often asked where such and such a peak is relative to Toubkal - where is the only other 4000m peak Ighil Mgoun for example? Are there any mountains near Taroudant?


Well, in a couple of CAF refuges, there exists a picture montage which is an excellent visual portrayal of the entire Moroccan High Atlas range. Unfortunately it is impossible to get hold of nowadays and so at the risk of breaching copyright, I took a number of photos of the montage a while back, did some digital editing of my own and ended up with a large file (3mb and 3868x532 pixels)!

So if you would like to get a feel for the entire High Atlas and start dreaming of your next mountain exploration, then just follow this link through to where we have the image stored on our own server.

If anyone knows per-chance where it is possible (and we have searched!) to find a copy of this montage to buy, let us know please!

Mountain Rescue in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains

Further to our previous blogs on this subject ("Planning your trip to the Moroccan High Atlas" 230408 and "Is insurance really necessary for trekking in the High Altas mountains?" 021008), a few of us (western ex-pat mountain guides resident in Morocco) attended a "full-on" intensive 6 day Wildeness Emergency Medical Technicians course in Scotland's National Outdoor centre Glenmore Lodge, Scotland at the beginnning of November.

The next stage in the plan to have some sort of medical cover in the Moroccan High Atlas mountains is to attract funding to purchase mountain stretchers and full medical kits to be stationed at the various refuges and key posts in the mountains - from Mgoun to Toubkal! Thereafter to train local "guides" and refuge personnell into basic casualty care and trauma treatment including the transportation of casualties out to a suitable roadhead for onward evacuation to a hospital etc.

Anyone interested in this whole area and possibly partnering with us, please contact us for more info.

Mgoun winter ascent - change of dates

We've had to change the dates for our proposed Winter Ascent trip of Irhil Mgoun in the Central High Atlas of Morocco from the first week of March to the 14-22 March inclusive. This enables us to tie in with our Winter Mountaineering and Exped training course also over in the Mgoun region.

Irhil (or Ighil) Mgoun at 4068m is the 4th highest peak in the Moroccan High Atlas and winter ascents are for experienced winter walkers / mountaineers who are looking to expand their horizons.

There is availability on both trips / courses.

Petzl Myo headlamps

Whether it’s for late night reading in a Berber village house in the High Atlas mountains or a pre-dawn start on Toubkal, headtorches are used the world over.

One of the most common names in headtorches is Petzl. They have just issued a press release on their Myo model.

Due to advances in the performance characteristics of AA/LR6 rechargeable batteries (especially their higher output during discharge), they can in certain cases of intensive use, cause quality and safety problems with MYO-series headlamps. When the headlamp is used with AA/LR6 rechargeable batteries, if a short-circuit appears in the cable connecting the battery case to the lamp, the cable can spark, melt, or catch fire. This poses a burn hazard to the user.
Click here to read more....

Walnuts in the High Atlas mountains

We've written about walnuts before in a previous blog. Every year is different and unfortunately for this year, it seems the walnut harvest was not hectic - certainly in the Western part of the Moroccan High Atlas mountains.
Strong winds and frost damage last April when the blooms were flowering, caused enough damage to reduce the harvest this year to about half of last years crop - which will mean (like most other foodstuffs) a price increase this year for Moroccan walnuts.....

Don't take everything at face value!

Our friends who live in our neighbouring High Atlas mountain villages, reckon this is going to be a "proper" winter! Already we've had some good rain (2 weeks ago) and more fell on Friday and yesterday resulting in snow above 2600m on Toubkal and other High Atlas peaks.

We were guiding on Toubkal on Friday (see photos) and our TMG blog article posted today.

So why the blog title "Don't take everything at face value!"? Well these photos are ours unlike one shown on a blog posted today by a Scottish outfit - Morocco Tour and Trek. The photo they have on their blog is actually one of ours from a blog we posted back last November!



At least they're using photos from a professional mountain guiding company....

Is insurance really necessary for trekking in the High Altas mountains?

First of all everyone coming to the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains should realise that there are no formal mountain rescue services in the country. We've written about this before in earlier blogs. Any person that suffers an injury in the mountains that requires a rescue and evacuation to a hospital, will have a long ordeal getting mule transport (if the injury allows that) or a stretcher carry (if one is nearby!) down to where a 4x4 vehicle can pick them up and transport them to a hospital. Unfortunately even though the numbers of trekkers and climbers are increasing - particularly in the Imlil / Toubkal & Ait Bougmez / Mgoun regions, the Moroccan authorities have not seen fit to grant commercial rescue licenses, as that would require granting air / helicopter permits which they are often loath to grant ("security concerns").

So! Given all of that, is insurance really necessary? Well even though there are no formal rescue services, there will be costs associated with your evacuation (even if it's just paying the diesel costs of the 4x4)! On top of that, the hospital / private clinic will be reluctant to let you leave without being paid! Lastly if real tragedy strikes and you need an air ambulance back home to a European / US hospital, your credit card providers may balk at this "purchase"!

So the short answer is "yes" - never leave for the mountains (here, the Alps or any of the Greater Ranges) without first having arranged medical / rescue / repatriation insurance cover.

Buying such cover has now been made easier as TMG & NM have arranged a link with VentureGuard for clients and non-clients to purchase this on-line. The cover is excellent, the premiums are competitive and mountaineering is not excluded like it is with a lot of travel insurance providers! Depending on the level of cover you are looking for (e.g. whether you require baggage insurance or not) premiums start at GBP 64 for a 5 day trip. This gives you £5M medical; £15K search/rescue; cancellation, personal liability, legal expenses..... More details on the benefits here.

Seasons & Festivals

Tomorrow marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan here in Morocco. For life in the Moroccan High Atlas villages, it will be a day of spending time with your family, before embarking on the start of the walnut harvest. Last year was a good year for walnuts and early indications are that this year will be good as well.

Lower down the olives are being harvested and brought to the olive press. Last year was a poor year resulting in high olive oil prices. This year looks to be better. Here's hoping....

In the meantime, Eid Mubarak !

Weather forecasts in the Moroccan High Atlas mountains

This is the time of year that the weather patterns change from summer thunderstorms to the first winter snows. Anytime between now and end of October is suspect. Unfortunately obtaining forecasts for the High Atlas mountains is not as straightforward as ringing up Chamonix Meteo!


You have to keep an eye out above for changing cloud patterns, wind speed and direction and humidity levels. Generally (and I emphasise that word), weather fronts do not come in with the same speed as they do in e.g . west coast Scotland or Ireland but are more gradual. However as with all things, the best is the find out as much as possible in advance, and if in doubt - descend!

The Moroccan Meteo service is available on-line here:
http://www.marocmeteo.ma/meteo/bulletin.asp

We will be posting any major weather news items on this blog throughout the winter season so stay tuned....

How easy is it to climb Toubkal?

How easy is it to climb Jebel Toubkal 4167m - the highest mountain in the Moroccan High Atlas mountains?

Find out more to this commonly asked question on our new blog!

Current trip availability for Toubkal Mountain Guides

Here is a up-to-date summary regarding the availability for future Toubkal Mountain Guides scheduled trips between now and next Easter.

Nov 24 - 28 Toubkal Winter ascent IFNI (1 place left)

Dec 29 - Jan 2 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY (booked out)

Dec 30 - Jan 2 Toubkal Winter ascent IMLIL (6 places left but not yet guaranteed to run until we have minimum 2 bookings)

Dec 30 - Jan 3 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY (6 places left but not yet guaranteed to run until we have minimum 2 bookings)

Jan 26 - 30 Toubkal Winter ascent IFNI (3 places left)

Feb 16 - 20 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY (5 places left)

March 9 - 13 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY (booked out)

March 15 - 21 Winter Mountaineering Course (availability)

April 6 - 9 Toubkal Winter ascent IMLIL (6 places left - guaranteed to run)

April 13 - 17 Toubkal Winter ascent LEPINEY (6 places left - guaranteed to run)

A useful link is our PDF brochure for our Winter Toubkal ascents

Daylight savings time

Maybe you didn't miss us but we certainly missed the Moroccan sunshine having spent 3 weeks in Ireland and getting a glimpse of the sun for a total of 4 hours one evening! Having said that, sunset times on the Irish west coast considerably lengthen the daylight hours during the "summer" which prompted a conversation about Moroccan daylight savings and how it would interfere with the forthcoming month of Ramadan. (We wrote about this in a previous blog)

Well maybe someone in the Moroccan government overheard us as no sooner have we got back than we read the incredible news that Morocco was turning back the clock for Ramadan. It appears that when the government decided to launch daylight saving time in June, it failed to consider the hours of prayers, Iftar, Sohour, work and school during the holy month of Ramadan!!

The lack of foresight by the authorities is amazing. Ramifications for travellers that have already booked flights into / out of Morocco during the month of September are that they should expect to receive an email soon from their airline advising them of the change in flight schedules by plus/minus one hour as appropriate.

More on this as it develops....

Over but not out!

The snow is melting, the summer trekking crowds are beginning and so as another winter / spring season finishes up for ToubkalMountainGuides.Com & NomadicMorocco.Com, we're taking this opportunity to sign off for a while. Rest assured however that if any juicy bits of news come along then the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains blog will come alive again!


To entice you all for next Autumn / Winter season here are some links to browse

Toubkal Winter Ascents PDF dossier

High level Toubkal trek & ascent (October 26 - Nov 1)

Mgoun Winter Ascents PDF dossier

Start dreaming.....!

Daylight Savings Time (re) introduced for Morocco

Morocco is to save energy by adjusting its clock during summer so it will be one hour ahead of GMT between 1 June and 27 September, according to Communication Minister and Government Spokesman, Khalid Naciri.

"This measure will allow (us) to save energy and to align the time zone with Mor occo’s regional and international partners including the EU countries," the Moroccan News Agency (MAP) quoted Naciri as saying Thursday.
In the 1980s, Morocco used to adjust its clock during the summer time, but later cancelled the process.

So later times getting out of bed for Toubkal summit!

North-East of Mgoun

You might think Mgoun is a long way away from Marrakech and hard to get to! Well the area currently in vogue for the worlds' top rock-climbers is a league apart.

Zaouia Ahansal is home to some incredible rock walls - Taghia.

This recently published article on the area investigates an issue close to all our hearts here at TMG & NM - that of sensitively introducing mountain based tourism to remote High Atlas village areas.

It seems that climbing some of these routes is nearly as hard as achieving a sensitively sustainable influx of western climbers to an area such as this.

Look at how Imlil has developed!

Vulture spotting

Anyone who has trekked up to the Toubkal refuges will have noticed the big sign on the track just across the river from Aremd displaying the protected status of this old-world vulture - the Lammergeier or Gypaetus Barbatus. We wrote about this in a previous blog last December.

Despite many many days in the region over the last few months, I haven't sighted this huge bird.

Has anyone?......

Some more altitude readings for Toubkal area

Our blog of the 5th February last regarding the altitude height of the Toubkal refuges has generated some feedback!

So for the record, here are some more altitude readings:-

8 (out of a possible maximum of 12) full strength satellite reads on my Garmin eTrex GPS on the 3rd May gave me a reading of 3163m for the (new) Mouflon refuge below Toubkal.

6 excellent satellite reads on the same GPS on the 4th May gave me 3159m for the Mouflon refuge.

9 full strength satellite reads on the GPS on the same day (4th May) gave me 4172m for the summit of Toubkal - i.e. 5 metres over the generally accepted "true" altitude of 4167m

So if we can say an average reading of the Mouflon reading as 3161m plus/minus 5m.

All of which tallies with previous altitude readings from my (sometimes possibly dodgy) watch altimeter recorded in our February blog!

So what height is the CAF Neltner?.........

Brahim

Brahim, 11, from a remote mountain village can see as far as his feet. At least that's something as it means he doesn't stumble too often when he’s walking along the narrow mountain tracks near his home.
His father travels regularly to the main town down in the plains to get some money for the family - he's the crippled beggar that we pass by every other day on our way to do our own important jobs.
His mother works in the terraced fields around their village, gathers firewood, makes bread and scrapes bits & pieces of food together to feed hungry mouths. Money on health-care isn’t even at the bottom of the list - it just doesn't feature.

Amazingly, despite everything, Brahim was still keen to give the small village pre-fab school perched on the hillside, a bash. Called lots of unkind names by those clever children in the class who know it all, he walked up to the blackboard every day to see what the teacher had written before returning to his desk unable to see the sniggering faces around him. That was before someone finally called it a day for him. His routine since then has centred around Friday mid-day prayers and helping the imam in mosque duties. His reward is a couple of dirham and a promise that he will be rewarded in paradise.

Brahim though visited the main town the other day with a few of his friends. Travelling in the back of an open truck for an hour and a half along a mountain road that has seen a couple of recent accidents, a fatality and a dozen others badly injured in the last while, he arrived dusty but relieved that the journey had been accident free.

The purpose of the boys visit to the town was to go to the local health clinic to get their eyes tested. Rudimentary facilities compared to “specsavers” or the like, they emerged nonetheless after an hour or so, each clutching a piece of paper with some scribbled figures on them. The owner of a glasses shop would later make out Brahim's to be minus 8 on average for both eyes.

Even though the distance between town and village is less than 50km as the kestrel flies, the boys had made the journey to town only a few times before and hearing car horns and avoiding collisions with cyclists were still all quite new experiences to talk about later. Just communicating with the eye doctor confirmed to Brahim & his friends, as if they needed it, that their mountain village was a different world to his town - they spoke a different language to him and only but for the headman of the village being with them who spoke both languages and could act as interpreter, they would probably have come away empty handed.

Brahim & his friends are now back home up in the mountains after having eaten a good tajine in town before they left. They're now waiting for someone to bring their newly made glasses up to them next week - inshallah.

The only thing Brahim doesn't want, now that he'll soon have glasses, is to see those sniggering faces of the know-it-alls in the classroom. That he'll have to deal with some other way.

Eye-testing, glasses, tajine & transport provided with help from the Aman Trust.

Planning your trip to the Moroccan High Atlas

There is no formalised mountain rescue service in the Moroccan High Atlas and the reality is that there is virtually no chance of getting a helicopter rescue unless you have some "inside" contacts!
Evacuation will have to be overland (by mule if the casualty is able for that or worse still a makeshift stretcher) to the nearest road and from there to a hospital / clinic.


The following phone numbers may be of some assistance in planning your trip in advance and/or contacting in the event of emergency:-

Toubkal / Imlil area
067 260058 Imlil Gendarmerie
070 109655 CAF Neltner (Toubkal) refuge
061 695463 CAF Neltner (Toubkal) refuge
067 852754 Guardian for the CAF Lepiney (Tazaghart) refuge
024 319036 CAF Oukaimeden
063 763713 Moufflon (Toubkal) new independently owned refuge
063 763109 Moufflon (Toubkal) refuge

Mgoun / Bougammez area
024 436369 Tarkeddit refuge

If dialing from a non-Moroccan mobile, you may need to dial 00 212 and drop the 0 in the local codes. Remember however that mobile coverage (even in the Toubkal area) is scant and on the Tarkeddit plateau (Mgoun area) is non-existent. Best of all is a satellite phone (e.g. Thuraya).

If you are planning on a mountain based trip in Morocco, it would be a good idea to locate the nearest private clinic (hospital) to you before you leave for the hills in case you need to go there with a casualty rather than be looking for one under pressure.....

Lastly for weather forecasts, I'm sure you all have your favourite on-line weather sites. Again there is no specific weather forecast service for the High Atlas. Best is to look at the forecasts for Marrakech, Agadir and Ouarzazate and hazard an educated guess as to conditions up at 4000m's!
The Moroccan meteo is updated daily and can be read from this link.

Alternatively keep an eye on this blog!