Toubkal Continued

This part of the climb was much slower with more stops for us to refuel. We had hoped to summit for sunrise, but we soon realised this was unachievable. That said, when sunrise came, it was a magical moment and a boost that some of the team needed. The 960 metres needed today to summit Mount Toubkal, took me 4.5 hours and from roughly an hour before we reached the peak, I was running on adrenaline and buzzing about our achievement. The final ascent was very slow, saw us scrambling again and the altitude affects were getting worse.

When we got finally got to the top, it was a time for celebration! We spent some time taking photos under the structure at the very top, taking in the incredible views and congratulating ourselves on this huge achievement! Whilst we waited at the top for the rest of the group to summit, we saw not one but two proposals within our group – what a special moment to be part of.

Once Nicola, Reuben’s mummy, arrived at the top, we took some moments to pay our respects to Reuben on what was his 12th birthday.

After a well-earned break and celebrations, it was time for us to start our descent. Prior to this trip, I had not given much thought to the descent, I was more concerned with the climb up and how the altitude would affect me. The descent was by far, for me, the hardest part of this challenge. The terrain at the top of Mount Toubkal is shale and it was like walking on marbles! It took me 3.5 hours to make my way back to base camp and every single step we took had to be taken with care and concentration. As a group, we fell over more times than we could count. This part of the mountain is very steep too – it would have been easier to ski down it although it would most definitely be a black run!

Once back at base camp, we had time to rest, refuel and reflect on our accomplishment before we put our walking boots back on and continued down the rest of the mountain. By this time, a few of the group were unable to go on and so were carried down by mules. Others were severely affected by altitude sickness too. This final descent (for the day) took me a further 3 hours so by the end of this day, I had been walking for 11 hours – all on very little sleep and with my body slowly succumbing to the effort.

Our final night in the Atlas Mountains was back in a small village in more of guest house style accommodation. We sat and cheered every team member back through the door. We had done it! The next morning, we had final group photos, a quick 45-minute walk back to the mini-buses and we were then headed back to civilisation. Once back in Marrakech it was time to celebrate! We had arrived as strangers but left as friends. A huge achievement claimed together, and we wouldn’t have got through it without one another.

Mount Toubkal; you were everything I expected and more – good and bad. I am proud to have this accomplishment under my belt….now to look for the next big adventure!