Day one, 

On arrival day, you will catch your flight from the UK to Marrakech, from the airport you can grab a cab to your accommodation while in the city. We are staying in the heart of the old town in an amazing location for us to explore the souks and do some shopping in the Djeema El Fna. After the call to prayer when the sun goes down, you are more than welcome to join us for dinner or go off for dinner on your own, the street food in the Djeema El Fna is amazing! 

 

Day two,

We will have a leisurely start with breakfast in the hotel and there will be some time in the morning to sort kit and have a first opportunity to explore Marrakech while it is a bit quieter, even start to practice your bartering skills and buy some presents to take home. From there we travel to Imlil a little village in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, the drive takes about an hour and a half and is amazing in itself. Watch as the landscape changes from desert, to foothills, to towering mountains. 

 

Day three,

It is here we start our trek to the Mouflons Hut (3000m) at the foot of Jbel Toubkal, the day's trek is a similar level of difficulty to Ben Nevis. Depending on the snowline we may have to use our crampons to aid walking in the snow although the path never gets very steep on this day. You won't have to worry about your bags as porters are included in the price, all you will need is your day pack, there is also the opportunity to leave your city clothes in the left luggage at the hotel in Marrakech. Once at the hut, big Mohammed and "wee" Mohammed will fill us full of hot mint tea (Berber whiskey) and Tagine as we settle in for the night to our accommodation. Although it is hard to draw yourself away from the warm stove in the evening we need lots of sleep, so after dinner, it is your own time, though most people will head off to bed in one of the dorms with plenty of warm blankets as it can get cold at 3000m. 

 

Day four,

A moderately early start for breakfast at the Hut before setting out on a skills day, If you haven't made it up to Scotland before the trip for your free winter skills training weekend this is the chance to learn how to safely use crampons and an ice axe on snow. A secondary focus to this day is to aid our acclimatisation, we may decide to ascend one of the high passes in the Toubkal valley. 

 

Day five and six, 

Our main objective of the trip is to ascend Jbel Toubkal, to do this we need good weather but we also need to be well acclimatised. This is why we have two days set aside for this. If we have two days of nice weather and we are feeling strong we can also ascend one of the other 4000m peaks in the valley for a rare treat. The summit of Toubkal is one of the most stunning places to visit, you look one way and there are huge, sharp, dramatic mountains covered in snow and ice, and then in the other direction, you can see the vast expanse of the Western Sahara, and the curvature of the earth. It really is breathtaking. 

 

Day seven, 

We will say our goodbyes to both Mohammed's and make our way back to Imlil to catch our ride back to Marrakech. We will also have the chance to stop off as we go to buy some mountain souvenirs from one of the many excellent little shops on the route down. When we get back to Marrakech we will enjoy dinner back at the hotel as we look from the roof across to the snowy peaks of the Atlas Mountains. We can even see Toubkal! Just before dinner, I have arranged for a close friend of mine Rachid Bouskri to come and show us some of his artwork and do a small workshop with us before dinner. If you would like to know more about Rachid have a look here: http://www.bouskri.com/biography.html his art is amazing, he is actually one of Morocco's national artists and I already have one of his paintings on my wall. 

 

Day eight, 

I will be running a sightseeing tour around the souks and the main square for any who wish to join and learn a bit more about the city, some people may choose to use this day to fly home but hopefully will take away lots of amazing memories from the trip.