DAY 5 Jebel Toubkal
03 December 2005
The first part of the Toubkal ascent. We should have kept well left, but ended up climbing
centrally until the rock face where we then cut left. Enlarge image
Ol and Andy ready for some climbing, with the first leg of the ascent in the background. Enlarge image
In the morning we breakfasted on bread and sardines before setting out on the climb. The crampons were essential immediately, we strapped them onto our feet outside the refuge door. The Brits had already set off, the Spaniards were still in the refuge. Following a trail in the snow we headed up the vally behind the refuge. The trail quickly came to fork, the left branch crossing the valley and heading up the mountain on other side. This was clearly the way the Brits had gone, as we could see them up on the higher slopes, probably about 500 metres above us. However, Ol thought the guide book mentioned an easier route further to the right, so with some misgivings we continued further up the valley on the other branch. This path soon started bearing to the left also, and followed a low wall for a short distance. It then came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the valley against a small mountain stream. It was now obvious that we should have taken the left turn earlier. However, rather than retracing our steps to that junction it seemed like a better idea to cut across, joining the other path further up the mountain . I began by falling through the crust of ice and snow covering the stream, getting both feet wet. An inauspicious start. We then clambered up the other side of the valley, which was deceptively steep, and would have been impossible without crampons. The path we were aiming for was quite close by to our left, and we should have crossed over to it sooner rather than later. Meanwhile the going had got much steeper, but there was now a continuous sheet of shiny ice between where we were climbing and the path. We were reluctant to cross this even in crampons. By now things were getting very steep and scary – we were on face of probably about 60° made of compacted snow, and were kicking in with the crampons to get purchase with our bodies essentially flattened against the slope and using our hands. I would have killed for an ice axe. The frame in my rucksack was stopping my from tilting my head back far enough look up the slope. Continuing to climb we were still separated from the path by ice. I would have argued for going back down into valley to join the other path, but by that time the only thing that scared me more that continuing upwards was the thought of going down what we'd just come up, but this time going backwards, like descending a ladder. One slip would have meant a continuous, every fast trip to the bottom of the valley with only small boulders to bounce off on the way down.
Around this time I suddenly realised all was not well with my left crampon, and looking down I saw that the front left stud that should have been holding my boot in position had snapped off. My foot was sticking out of the front of the crampon, which was now very loose on my foot as all the tension in the strapping had been lost. I was unable to move as it was impossible to take the other crampon out of the face without sliding off down the mountain, so Andy had to descended a little to help me. My foot was pushed back over the crampon, the strapping retied so that a loop went down around one of the spikes to try to hold my foot in place. It wasn’t ideal but good enough until we could reach somewhere to stop so that I could sort myself out a bit.
Someway directly above us was a great cliff of exposed rock, the top of which we had supposed to be the summit of Toubkal (actually the summit is much further back to the left of this). If we were not able to cross over to the path before hand because of the ice, the plan was now to get to the bottom of this cliff and work our way left along its base towards the track. If we couldn't make it to the path from there the thought of having to descend backwards all the way down was not an appealing one. Andy confidently led the way upwards, and I followed using the holes he kicked in the snow like rungs of a ladder for my hands and feet. There were small boulders dotted around, whose downhill face was exposed. However, snow was packed in behind them forming a continuous slope so what looked like an ideal seat from below would turn out to be impossible to sit on. Eventually we got to a boulder big enough so that the snow packed in behind it made a fairly level surface, so we could rest on top without having crampons dug in. This gave me chance to retie my broken crampon more tightly so my foot was held in better. I was now also able take the supporting rods out of the back of my rucksack so that it no longer prevented me from looking up the slope properly. Feeling a bit more confident in the makeshift repair, we continued straight up. Looking up it always seemed that the slope above was less steep further up than the part we were currently on, but in fact it would turn out to be just as steep. We continued up to the base of the cliffs where, thankfully, the gradient was less steep until it met the vertical rock of the cliffs. At last we could cut left, able to walk up-right without having our hands on the slope in front. The relief of finally reaching the trail made me buzz happily with adrenalin.
Relieved to be on the path, which although steep was tame compared to the first part of our climb.
Enlarge image
After this introduction to the mountain and to the use of crampons the rest of the ascent seemed like a piece of cake. We followed the trail between the cliffs to the right and the neighbouring peaks to the left. Whilst we had been faffing around on all fours, the Spaniards had set out from the refuge and and now were on the slope above us. I one of the up to have talk, feeling slightly foolish in my broken, knackered out old crampons, whilst they (and the other Brits) had nice looking mountain gear, including 2 ice axes each, ropes and poles. The rest of the climb was relatively uneventful, although the scenery became increasingly spectacular. At first we could see only the surrounding mountains, but closer to the summit other lower snow-free mountains became visible to the south, and then dead flat plains stretching of the north. Near the top the air was pretty thin, so that after a few steps you’d feel short of breath and your heart would be hammering. By the time we got to the summit Ol was feeling a bit sick from the altitude.
360 degree view on Toubkal, summit centre-left. Enlarge image
We reached the summit around 14:30 and celebrated with lunch – bread and sardines, biscuits and fruit. We took photos for the Spaniards of them holding various flags and banners. Unsurprisingly the descent was much faster than our slow ascent, taking only a couple of hours. I don’t think we stopped for much of a rest all of the way down, whereas on the ascent we’d been stopping every few minutes towards the summit. Every now and then on the less steep slopes, where you could keep some control, we indulged in a bit of bum-sledging.
About halfway up Toubkal. Enlarge image
Ol climbing. Enlarge image
Toubkal summit. Enlarge image
When we got back to the refuge we considered continuing down to Imlil immediately - there were a couple of mules going down to the village, so we wouldn't need to carry our bags. However, in the end we decided to stay in the refuge for the night and walk to Imlil the next day when we could do the journey in daylight. Entering the refuge we found that it'd been filled up with large group of Spaniards. Our previously spacious dormitory was packed. We made dinner, pasta with sardines in tomato sauce again, our fifth sardine-based meal in a row. At least with the extra people the place seemed a bit warmer and the fire was blazing in the common room. I got a headache, probably from the altitude during the climb. After many games of cards and cups of hot water we went to bed (the water wasn't potable, so had to be boiled). We got woken up by inconsiderately noisily chattering Spaniards, both when they came to bed later in the night and also when they got up at about 6 o’clock in the morning. Bastards.
