The High Atlas Mountains in North Africa are simply stunning, a long mountain range that separates the Atlantic Coast with the Sahara Desert. There are a number of 4000m peaks, the highest being Jebel Toubkal at 4167m, this whole area has a real Alpine feel to it in the winter with traditionally very good snow conditions. The High Altas are very accessible from the UK, indeed I can arrive at the foot of them quicker than travelling to parts of Scotland! 

It’s hard to imagine ice climbing in North Africa, but the High Atlas in Morocco provides a wealth of impressive water ice and gullies with many of these routes easily accessible from the Mouflons Hut. There is a good range of grades from Scottish II to V and beyond, including the opportunities for long adventurous Alpine type routes.

This guided week has no set plan, rather the aim is to make the most of the conditions on the ground and climb on the ice and snow as much as possible, this is a week of adventure, there is no guarantee of what you will climb! The Mouflon hut is situated in a large valley giving access to a huge range of possibilities, for example within 100m of it there is a considerable amount of single pitch ice up to grade V which will entertain you for the day! It is the perfect introduction to the area. 

Beyond that, long icefalls can be found in addition to many mountaineering routes which actually summit some significant peaks. Some of these routes are the classic snow gully lines that rise up from the valley ranging in length from 200-600m and longer in length, easily comparable to those of the Alps, but with easier approaches. Some of these may require an hours walk to reach.

As with all these trips, the weather is the determining factor and may allow us to follow our plan or force us to change. I’ve started walking in the snow from the valley with knee deep snow for most of the week and also on other occasions the snowline hasn’t started until the hut and therefore a little easier on the legs! It’s always an adventure, but the key factors are that we stay safe, enjoy the week and hopefully climb as much as we can. I prefer to keep the plan very open to allow us to make decisions compatible with the conditions on the ground.

Here's a very broad outline of the 8 days...