2024 Competition Winner Nick's diary

After arriving from the airport, I stayed at Riad Rafaele in the middle of Marrakech. Here I met fellow trekkers John and Stephanie from the USA, Simon and Ellie from the UK, Patrick from USA, Peter from the USA and Ines from France and our lovely leader Sarah also from France. Sitting down to our dinner at the riad, which was a soup starter, a meat and vegetable tagine, and a fruit salad dessert, we started to get to know each other. As I was chatting to them, I realised my fellow trekkers were all proper athletes and super fit and I felt slightly worried about the upcoming trek. The evening was a hit as we all got on well and I couldn't have wished for nicer trekking partners. What a great start to our trip!

We had a full day guided tour of Marrakech taking in the sights, sounds and complete and utter manicness of this city. We explored the Bahia Palace, the Jewish quarter, a herbal emporium and the Yves St Lauren private gardens which had the biggest koi carp I've ever seen. Later that evening, we had dinner in a local restaurant and met our official trek guides, Abdelaziz and Jamal who were knowledgeable.

Our first trek day started when we left the bustle of the city by mini bus to Oukaimeden, home to the highest ski lift in the Atlas mountains. We sat down for a picnic lunch and saw some soldiers in their fatigues walking past doing their training walks. After our lunch, we set off on the trek to Tacheddirt (2314m) and our guest house Tizi N Tacheddirt. As we started I realised that this was going to be tough for me but I managed to keep up surprisingly well. Once we got there, the guest house was charming with breathtaking views of the mountains. We ended our first day of trekking with a welcome traditional Moroccan food in good company.

After breakfast we set off to Tizi N Aguersiwal (2000m) through the Assif Imnane valley. The view was spectacular and the weather was perfect. We didn't pass many people on the trail. However when we had lunch in Aguersiwal, a berber village, the young children who had been to the mosque were all keen to shake our hands as we passed through their village.The smiles on their faces will stay with me, they had nothing and were happy. 

Having had our breakfast we set off from Imlil to our refuge Azib N tamsoult (2250m) and an optional waterfall trek which I didn't quite get to as I ran out of puff. I shared a dormitory with Peter and Patrick. A lot of the hike was descent which suits me better. The views were something else and we stopped at a small makeshift shelter on route where the guides gave us dates to refuel us and a welcome break. When we got to the refuge, I felt up to walking extra to the waterfall but decided half way that it was too much for me so one of the guides stayed with me while we waited for the others to return. When we got back to the refuge, the ice cold shower was very much needed and appreciated.

A very early morning start at 06:00, with head torches on as it was pitch black. We set off on a tough trek to refuge Toubkal via the Aguelzim pass (3560m). The last half I did on a mule as my breathing was becoming difficult and was thankful to the sure footed mule even though I was scared to death. All praise to my fellow trekkers for completing on foot.

Because of the high altitude and my struggle to breathe, I took the opportunity to have a rest day at Toubkal refuge and write this diary, whilst sitting on a rock, taking in the amazing views. 

We began the long descent back to Imlil which actually suited me better than climbing. After my day off yesterday whilst the rest of the group went to the summit, I was glad to be going back to Imlil as I was struggling with my breathing and knew it was all downhill on the way there. We passed lots of other trekkers going up to the refuge and to the summit of Toubkal. Quite a few groups of people from many different parts of the world were doing it for charity. I was surprised at how many people there were, the refuge we left hosts 200 people a night! We spent the night in a wonderful guest house in Imlil, surrounded by impressive views with a swimming pool which we didn't go into.

We had the morning free in Imlil, then a minibus back to Marrakech and riad Rafaele. For our last dinner together, we went to Dar Essalam restaurant, a famous restaurant Grace Kelly had been to and where Alfred Hitchcock filmed the ‘Man who knew too much’. We all took part in the floor show. It was great fun on the last night together. What a great bunch of people I had the pleasure of being with. I would count the lovely people as one of my trek highlights, that and the awe inspiring landscapes. This experience has taught me that I'm clearly not as fit as the other trekkers but feel proud I achieved what I did and the memories will stay with me forever.