Mount Toubkal sits in Morocco, in the Atlas Mountains, and is the highest mountain in North Africa and the Arab World (4167m). It is often a choice of adventure enthusiasts wanting to explore outside of the UK and climb a higher mountain. But how hard is it to climb Toubkal? What fitness levels do you need? Is it technical? Our Co-Founder and guide Jack Fleckney will answer all of these questions below. Jack has led expeditions all over the world, including mountain ascents, jungle & desert crossings, and ocean crossings.

Firstly, in my opinion, Mount Toubkal is one of the best mountains to climb to experience your first exposure to altitude. This is because, for most of the year, you can trek to the summit without the need for any specialist equipment or the need for experience with any technical skills. It is purely a trek. But, you need to make sure you choose the correct trip to match your fitness levels.

The traditional route to the summit is by walking up the Mizane Valley. Most companies offer this climb over 2 days. Giving you one day to trek to the refuge. On the second day, you then trek to the summit and descend (following your previous route) back down to the bottom of the mountain. Here are the route details:

• Trek from Imlil to the Refuge – 8.7km Trek and 1302m Elevation gain.
• Trek from Refuge to the summit – 3.5km Trek and 971m Elevation gain.
• Trek from the summit to Imlil – 12.5km Trek and 2273m Descent.

As you can see you do have some tough elevation gain on both days of your trek. The first day’s trek up the valley isn’t too steep and the track has a high footfall meaning it is relatively clear and easy to walk on. We do recommend the use of trekking poles to assist in some of the more ‘rocky’ areas.

The trek from the refuge to the summit is harder. It starts with a steep ascent onto the saddle between two high points, during this part of the trek you zig-zag up a scree slope. Again the track is well-worn and ok to walk on. Following this, you cross a very small boulder field, requiring the need to have some good balance and the use of trekking poles can help this small section massively. After which, you slowly ascend along a choice of tracks before reaching the ‘saddle’ and finishing the final section to the summit.

I think the descent off the mountain is harder than the ascent. The descent requires a lot of focus as there are lots of loose rocks/stones. But all completely do-able for most people.

If you feel capable of trekking for up to 10 hours with breaks, you are more than capable of making it to the summit of Toubkal. What you need to consider is how many days you choose to complete it in.

2 DAY OPTION

Traditionally you leave from Marrakesh and drive to Imlil to begin the trek. Aiming to begin by 11 am. You will slowly make your way up to Sidi Chamarouch for lunch, before continuing up to the refuge. This trek usually takes 4-6 hours. You’ll have dinner in the refuge and get straight sleep, ready for an early start.

Your alarm will go off around 4 am, a quick breakfast, head torch on and you’ll start the trek. The goal is to reach the summit and be back for some lunch, before continuing back off the mountain to Imlil, to head back to Marrakesh.

This is a great option if you need to save a day on your trip. But be aware the second day is very long and tiring. You will need a good fitness level to comfortably complete this.

3 DAY OPTION

This is the option used on our trips.

As with the 2-day option, you will trek up to the refuge for dinner and sleep. We have breakfast at 6 am and aim to begin trekking at 7 am. We will be sleeping back at the refuge that night meaning we have the whole day to summit and get back. This removes any time pressure and allows people with lower fitness levels to complete the trek and enjoy some time on the summit. The third day is then used to trek back down the mountain to Imlil.

At 4167m, Toubkal is high and altitude will definitely be a consideration for any guide. Although the likelihood of experiencing more serious forms of AMS is small. Fitness levels have little effect on how you will react to altitude. So all you can do is manage symptoms and do everything you can do to minimise any issues. Here are my main tips:

• Hydration – At altitude, you’ll need to go to the toilet more often (your body removes water to increase adaptation to altitude). So you must keep drinking as much as possible.
• Trek slowly – Keeping your heart rate lower and putting yourself under less stress helps a lot.
• Sleep – Sleeping at altitude (The refuge) is a huge help and gives your body time to adapt.
• Medications – It is important to check with a medical professional about any drug use. You can use normal painkillers to remove headaches and so on. There are also drugs specifically designed to help with altitude sickness.
• Tracking – On our trips we track your blood oxygen levels and heart rate to see how you are reacting and if we think you’ll have any challenges.
• Your guide – I will always be looking for any traits of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) and have a plan to help manage any of these reactions to altitude.

We rate our Toubkal expedition a 2/5. All you need to be able to do is trek. You don’t need to be fast. But you do need to be able to trek for a whole day. The key choice is choosing between a 2 or 3-day trip. We highly recommend this trek as your first international mountain climb and first experience of trekking at altitude. You do need to make sure you choose a summer trek because this is when the mountain is clear of snow and ice. We have added some more information on climbing Toubkal in the winter below.

Now choosing to ascend Toubkal in the winter gives you a few extra challenges to consider. Firstly, the snow and ice. The winter season is getting a little shorter, but there is a high likelihood of climbing in snow and ice. Therefore, requiring the need for crampons and potentially an ice axe. But don’t worry, with Legend Expeditions you don’t need any prior experience, as we can teach you the basic skills needed to walk in crampons. The ice axe is often used as a walking stick for stability.

The other challenge it offers is the temperature. Whereas during the summer ascents temperatures rarely drop below 0 on the summit. During winter ascents, you can guarantee you have minus temperatures to deal with. So you definitely want to be prepared with warm clothing. A winter ascent offers a complete contrast to a summer climb, where the Atlas mountains change form to become huge white blocks. Even the route can look completely different if there is enough snow!