Most Inspirational Moment
Hmmmm.....topping out on Toubkal was great as it was the main objective and it was superb to see my wife Susies happy wee face having climbed it - very proud of her, but I also really enjoyed Toubkals South Summit as I was the only one on it and the day after we bagged Ounakrim which was more challenging and quieter - our group being the only ones there instead of the 50 or so people on the summit of Toubkal the day before.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Couldn't have asked for anyone better. Abdullah was knowledgeable, professional, very experienced and you couldn't meet a more likeable guy.
Advice for Potential Travellers
These things are all relative depending upon your previous experience but, if you are a competent UK hillwalker comfortable on the higher UK mountains, you should be OK. A lot of the terrain higher up is loose and can be steep - think the Scafells, the Mamores Munros, Ben Nevis from the Carn mor Dearg side rather than the tourist path. My Susie has done around 60 Munros and isn't a fan of heights and she managed fine. Doing this the long way around gives plenty of time to acclimatise and get used to the type of terrain you will encounter on summit day. The trip is well supported and you only carry your own daypack. Plenty of food - more tending to veg than meat and typically Moroccan - though we also got chips in the high hut which was good.
Suggestions
As I said earlier this was my first experience of being organised by someone else - I am used to climbing and walking with friends and I usually do the organising which can be stressful at times - accomodation, food, route finding etc. My wife thought that this type of thing might not suit me but she fancied it for her 40th birthday so we booked - she half expected me to spend the week a bit frustrated at being "led". On the contrary I enjoyed the majority of it - eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, sleep was pretty much the order of the day with nothing much else to think about - stress free for me. Certainly helped that we had a great crowd to walk with and Abdullah had his head well screwed on - he knew when to take things a little quicker or slower etc - very experienced in the Atlas mountains. Occasionally it would have been nice to do my own thing but no complaints from me and I think we are now planning on something else for next year - probably Kili.
