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Maroc & Roll
It wouldn't have occurred
to me to ski in Morocco except I was desperate. Located in the
northern tip of Africa, Morocco is well known for the Sahara
Desert, snake charmers, tagine and as a backdrop for the movie
"Casablanca," but not for ski mountaineering. My desperation
was driven by a desire to fulfill a decade-long quest to find
the best ski mountaineering on all seven continents. Having ticked
off six of them and thinking it was safe to leave Africa for
last, it was now time to see what there was to ski, if only sand
dunes, on the Dark Continent.
The preliminary research
was not very encouraging. The consensus was that Morocco's High
Atlas Mountains were probably the best bet, but to keep my expectations
low. Friends who had passed through the region predicted that
the skiing would be lackluster, but the overall unique cultural
experience would more than make up for it. In retrospect, I'm
happy to say that my friends need a little more skiing faith.
Morocco is a very tourist
friendly country, especially towards film production companies.
Its scenic backdrops have doubled for Tibet, the American West
and Arabia. No special permits or visas are required to visit,
but they also don't allow in walkie-talkie radios. So after having
ours confiscated at the airport, it was a surprise to step outside
and see all of the taxi drivers using them to coordinate rides
with. It was our first clue that inside knowledge plays a big
part here.
Part of the reason Morocco
is seldom visited by North American's is the 27-hour commute
to get there. Access to the mountains is through Marrakech, which
to Europeans is a direct three-hour flight. This, and the fact
that Morocco used to be a French colony, explains why French
is the second language of the country and most of the visitors
are Europeans who are there for short vacations.
Marrakech was known as
part of the Hippy Trail in the 1960s, although it hardly seems
laid back and blissed out today. The center of the town revolves
around the market, which has morphed from streets with stalls
a century ago to a bewildering subterranean maze nowadays. The
entrances are surrounded by tooth sellers, snake charmers, water
peddlers, musicians, beggars, police, juice stands and pirated-music
vendors. The massive enclosed area covers roughly a square mile
and holds literally thousands of shops. Signage is vague, but
it would be fitting to post "Abandon all hope ye who enters
here" posters at each entrance. The temptation to explore
is irresistible, although one hour in the market is the equivalent
of a full day of skiing steep fall-to-your-death couloirs in
the nearby mountains. Visitors stand no chance of blending in
or competing against the finely honed sales and bargaining skills
of the locals. If you are lucky, you will emerge with some of
your savings intact and only a few curious purchases that make
you wonder what you were thinking. Why do I need a size 60 fez?
How am I going to get this lampshade home?
The nearby High Atlas Mountains
are a major destination mainly because they contain the very
climbable 13,671' high point of Morocco, Mt. Toubkal. Getting
there is as easy as hailing a cab off the streets of Marrakech
for the one and a half hour ride to the town of Imlil, which
costs about $40. Imlil is a perfectly situated climbing village
as it is at the confluence of two valleys which head up into
the mountains. It has everything climbers and skiers need, including
mules to carry your packs, lodging and supplies, but being a
Muslim country, don't look for any liquid oxygen as you won't
find it.
Upon colonizing any country,
the first thing the French do is install mountain huts, and Morocco,
or Maroc as they call it, is no exception. Not only are there
huts, but they have hut keepers who will also provide all of
the cooking (and more importantly, dish cleaning) for such an
affordable price that it is a non decision. A scalding mouthful
of crunchy freeze dried Sweet & Sour versus steaming plate
of tagine is an easy choice.
The maps, or map, of the
area is hardly worth a second glance or the paper it is printed
on. With two valleys to choose from, the western Lipiney drainage
looked like it might it might have steeper terrain. A Google
image search hit the jackpot - the Brits liked Lipiney for Alpine
climbing, and what they like to climb, I like to ski.
The casual five-hour hike
into the Tazaghart hut grew more suspenseful with each step as
the terrain steepened and couloirs started to appear as thin
ribbons of white streaming through the hanging tapestry of the
valley walls. After spending a comfy night in the stone hut with
accommodations for twenty, I was excited to get outside the next
day and see if this trip halfway around the world was actually
going to pay off.
Halfway through the first
day, I couldn't believe how Morocco was treating me and almost
had tears in my eyes. Starting with the Occidental Couloir which
is one of the biggest and most obvious couloir in the valley,
I booted up 2,000' of carveable neve on a perfectly skiable 45-degree
pitch which ultimately topped out on a warm, flat, sunny plateau.
There was nobody else around and from the high vantage point
I could see countless other couloirs stacked up like firewood
just waiting to be skied.
The first turns on my last
continent were full value with the yawning void of snow and rock
stretched out below. Unlike free solo rock climbing where each
step brings you further into the danger zone, the first turn
with steep skiing delivers the maximum danger and exposure right
from the start with subsequent turns bringing you closer to safety.
After getting over the first shaky, jet-lagged, tentative turns,
I got my legs underneath me and started to sink my edges into
what skiing in Morocco was all about.
Alternating between long
shots of thigh-smoking linked turns and rest stops to recoup,
I enjoyed the scenery as I worked my way down the chute. The
skiing was phenomenal, but even more than that, the closure of
a decade-long quest to ski the world started to sink in. A lot
of snow had passed under my bases and although skiing was the
prime motivator, the main attraction was always the thrill of
travel and the excitement of the unknown. Steep descents might
have been the spicy curry, but it was nothing without the couscous
base of travel to feast on.
Returning to the valley
floor I realized that I needed to get busy as there was a lifetime
of couloirs to ski and only ten days left in the trip. The following
days were all clear and sunny with an endless stream of hits
in the parade of descents. Classics like the Diagonal Couloir
twisted and turned through towering rock walls while more moderate
lines could be skied as a half day appetizers. The Lipiney valley
is a perfect couloir playground, with chutes connecting the lower
valley to the upper plateau like bars in a prison cell. From
the top of one, you can see another. And another, and another!
After topping out on a
perfect splitter, I wandered over and saw a thin little line
that looked like it might go all the way to the grass in the
valley floor. To guard against getting cliffed-out, I approached
from a ridgeline halfway up, booted to the top through a maze
of overhanging black rock towers, then turned around and skied
it until the snow stopped and a creek began. Christened the "Black
Mamba Couloir" in honor of the largest venomous snake in
Africa, it delivered 3,640' of killer chute skiing-something
I wouldn't have believed was possible two weeks before.
Being so close to the high
point of Morocco, it seemed a shame not to tag Toubkal's summit.
A one-day shuttle brought us over to the massive hut in the Toubkal
valley, which with over 100 people inside was still only half
full. The next morning we were helped up the summit trail by
a hurricane-force tailwind, snapped the summit photos, and then
chattered our way back down. With hours of daylight left, we
skied and walked back to the town of Imlil to complete a triangular
circuit of the twin valleys.
Skiing in Morocco reinforces
the explorer's adage "you never know until you go."
With the High Atlas Mountains containing such a treasure-trove
of couloirs, there's no shortage of great turns. What elevates
Morocco above all the rest is that it is skiing in exotic Africa
and in this regard, my friends' predictions of lackluster skiing
and a unique cultural experience was only half right.
Andrew McLean
Trip Dates: 02/27 -
03/12 2007 |
