Climb Mount Toubkal (4167m): The Winter Edition
Don your crampons and trek your way up the mighty Mount Toubkal in the height of winter
What's Included?
Activities & Certified Guides
All itinerary activities with expert, local, English-speaking guidesRiad & Mountain Refuge
2 nights in a riad and 2 nights in a mountain refugeMeals
All breakfasts, 3 lunches and 2 dinnersTransfers & Porterage
Airport transfers and eveything in between; plus mules and muleteers to carry your overnight luggage on the trekEquipment
Your crampons, ice axe and sleeping bag will be providedSmall Like-minded Groups
Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 14 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people…
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What's it like?
Summit North Africa’s highest mountain in the peak of winter – all 4,167 metres of her
Fuelled by tagine, hike to the roof of North Africa via traditional Berber villages and scenic pitstops
Cosy down in a mountain refuge and homestay in the Atlas Mountains and a traditional Moroccan riad in the heart of Marrakech
Key Information
Day 1
Check out the sights and smells of Marrakech
Your host will meet you at the airport and drive you to your traditional riad accommodation in Marrakech’s historic medina. The day is yours to explore the city’s colourful souks, wander the UNESCO-listed Jemaa el-Fna square and indulge in some amazing Moroccan food.
Day 2
Travel to the Atlas Mountains and hike to your refuge at 3200m
Hiking
Wake up early for the scenic drive through the foothills of the Atlas Mountains to Imlil, where you'll meet your support crew. Begin your trek by gradually ascending the Toubkal Valley, passing Berber farming villages before stopping for lunch on the trail. In the afternoon, you’ll arrive at the refuge. Settle in, meet other hikers and refuel with a well-earned dinner cooked by your support crew. As night falls, wrap up warm, get in your sleeping bag and head to bed looking forward to the high-altitude winter days ahead.
Day 3
Take a day to acclimatise
Hiking
Wake up to incredible views of snow-covered mountains followed by a hot breakfast. After trying out your crampons and ice axe, set out on an acclimatisation hike to summit some of the lower peaks around the refuge in preparation for the ascent to Toubkal's summit tomorrow. You’ll be back at the refuge by late afternoon to eat, relax and dream about the views from the top.
Day 4
Rise early to summit Toubkal
Hiking
Rise when it's still dark, turn your head torch on and start climbing up and out of the valley. You’ll soon face steep, snowy slopes, ice and high winds as you make your way along the trail, but once you attain the ridge, your goal is in sight. Once you make it to the summit, soak in the view from the top, give yourself a pat on the back, then escape the whipping wind as you begin the long descent back to Imlil. From here, say farewell to the Atlas Mountains and drive back to your riad in Marrakech, where the night is yours to find a restaurant for couscous or a tasty tagine to celebrate, before collapsing into bed.
Day 5
Time to head back to reality
Relax over your last Moroccan breakfast, explore the town some more if you have time, then transfer to the airport to catch your flight home.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Marrakech Airport (RAK)
Catch any flight on Day 1
Ends
Marrakech Airport (RAK)
Catch any flight on Day 5
Transfers
Private transfers between the airport and your riad are included for any time you choose to arrive on day 1 and depart on day 5, or if you have booked additional pre or post trip accommodation with your host.
If you are making your own arrangements to extend your stay in Morocco, private transfers between Marrakech airport and Marrakech city are not included but can be arranged with your host for an additional cost. Please see Optional Extras for details.
Travel options
There are regular, daily flights to Marrakech from airports in the UK and Europe. Day one is yours to explore Marrakech: you'll meet your guide and fellow travellers the next morning.
Please note that mobile boarding passes are not accepted at Marrakech airport and you will need to present a printed boarding pass on departure.
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2 – Day 3
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 5
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Moroccan food has a unique blend of sweet and savoury flavours. Local specialities include tajine (a stew cooked in an earthenware pot), couscous, and pastilles (flaky pastries stuffed with meat and dusted with cinnamon and sugar). Food is often spiced with cumin, turmeric and ginger. Meals on the trek are cooked by the Berber muleteers. For breakfast, you'll be served a selection of jams, bread, cookies and fruit with juice, coffee and tea. Lunches and dinners will be fresh and healthy, including dishes such as soup, salads, vegetable dishes, lentils, beans, rice or pasta, classic Moroccan tagine, couscous, olives, nuts and fruit.
Vegetarians, vegans and other dietary requirements and allergies can be catered for – please just request this on your passenger info form.
What is the accommodation like?
Marrakech
In Marrakech, you'll stay in a beautiful riad - traditional Moroccan houses with an interior garden or courtyard. The exact riad you stay in will be confirmed nearer the time based on availability and group size. All are chosen for their excellent reputation, location, beautiful decor and welcoming service.
Mount Toubkal
During the trek, you'll stay in either the Mouflon or Neltner mountain refuge depending on availability and group size. The rooms are basic shared dorms with bunk beds. There’s a common area to relax in the evening and chat with other climbers from around the world.
Upgrades
For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge for the nights in Marrakech, see Optional Extras for the price. Please request this at the time of booking (this is subject to availability and they are very limited due to the layout of traditional riads).
This trip has been rated as Tough
This trek requires a very good level of fitness.
As this trip takes place during the winter, you must be capable of hiking all day up paths of moderate difficulty and be prepared to face rain, snow and high winds. During the lower parts of this trek, the walking is relatively straightforward, but the loose footing and high altitude will make the going quite difficult in parts. You should pack enough personal food and snacks to power you through 3 full days of hiking at altitude. Towards the summit, you will encounter steep snowy sections where crampons and ice axes will be required; Your guides will give you a full safety briefing on how to use these. However difficult it gets, the views along the way make the journey more than worthwhile. On any winter hike in a high mountain environment, you will potentially encounter high winds, rain, snow, ice and steep slopes. The Atlas Mountains are no different and you should be experienced and prepared to face these conditions. For the higher parts of the trek, you will use crampons and have an ice axe to hand.
What will I need to carry?
Mules will carry your main overnight luggage during the trek and you will need to carry your daypack with your daytime essentials (extra layer, snacks, water etc.). For the welfare of the mules, please ensure your main overnight luggage is in a soft-sided bag and weighs no more than 15kg.
January, February and March are the best months to do winter treks in the Atlas Mountains. January sees the lowest temperatures - average 6 °C throughout the month - but it's still pleasant for hiking.
Great guides, cooks and staff,
Great guides, cooks and staff, great food.
Epic experience
What an amazing experience and trip this was! Hassle free booking from the start, very well organised down to your final lift back to the airport. Useful information supplied to you a week to go once the group chat is made.
Our 2 local guides Ibrahim and Jawad were outstanding for the whole 3 days. We could not have asked for better guides. The whole group had very high praises for them both.
The food was much better than what I thought it was going to be. Honestly you will never go hungry for the 3 days as they feed you well.
We were lucky enough to get the true winter edition with the snowy mountains. Our group summited on the second day of the hike. This was due to the weather changing the next day.
I would definitely recommend this trip and I will be using Much better adventures again!.
Great trip!
An incredibly well-organised trip with two fantastic local guides who accommodated the needs and abilities of the whole group.
The mixture of seeing Marrakesh and then the snow-covered mountains was incredible.
With the freshly cooked food, transport and equipment all organised by the guides with local knowledge, trying to organise a trip like this without the local partner agency would be almost impossible. I highly recommend booking Toubkal through much better adventures
Winter Toubkal Climb
What a fantastic trip! It was smoothly organised with plenty of communication beforehand. The local guides and organisations were experts and made sensible decisions in light of the weather and capabilities of everyone in the group - for example our group summited a day early due to weather warnings and the next day, nobody managed to get up there. The food was also amazing!
A big thank you to Ibrahim and Jawad, our guides. They were so friendly and happy to answer all of our questions on any topic from the atlas mountain range, to the culture of the berber people, to mountaineering. I learned so much! They kept a pace that suited everyone and in some cases split the group in two so some people could take a more sedate route and others could go for a bit more of a scramble. I was a bit poorly during the trip but I felt safe and looked after as they kept checking on me, and never left me at the back of the pack. Thank you!
Fantastic trip, guides were great,
Fantastic trip, guides were great, we met some fantastic people, and good to be able to spend some time in Marrakech as well as on the mountain; all in all an excellent trip!
Toubkal winter climb
Would thoroughly recommend this trip. Great value for our 5 night trip, including an extra night at the lovely Riad View Point in Marrakech.
The guides could not have been better - really friendly, informative, flexible - whether supporting the chefs to serve food or clear up, or get us some warming hot drinks. Ibrahim in particular deserves a massive shout out as the leader - I really thought he was excellent and he kindly took us on an alternative longer hike down for those who wanted to which was awesome. There was also flexibility around the weather - and we were able to summit on day two as the weather forecast was poor on day three and it was agreed within our group that was the best option for everyone. It was hugely appreciated as we wouldn’t have been able to summit the following day.
Food was great - and the porters did everything in the background to ensure our stuff and the equipment arrived before we did.
My only gripe is the quality of the accommodation for the climb as the lodge is very basic and a 24 bed dormitory didn’t lead to much sleep! However given it is at 3200m up the mountain and it is the only choice, not a lot the holiday company can do about it. It serves its purpose, but best be warned it is basic and not conducive to sleep! Take ear plugs and a mask!
Great crowd for our trip too. We will be back for more trips with MBA
Great experience
Great experience over all. Booking was easy. Riad is nice, good location. Communication with M. B. A. was very responsive.
Great hike in the Atlas Mountains
Mohamed, Abdul and Mustafa were excellent guides and catered for all of the needs of the group. While the trek was challenging, the sense of achievement was brilliant. The views of the sunset on last day were particularly memorable. Marrakesh is an amazing city to see, the welcome , food and culture second to none. A great trip and I will be back to Morocco. We met some fantastic people and the trip felt much longer than 3 days of hiking. Try the Hammam back in Marrakesh after. Your body will thank you.
Unforgettable experience
What an incredible adventure from start to finish. It was very challenging for me. Don't expect an easy trek as it's quite steep but it's well worthy. We had amazing guides who looked after us all the way. I will be forever grateful to Abdul, Mohammed and Mustafa. Very kind, genuine and caring guides who made sure we were okay at all times. I was very luck to share this experience with a great bunch of people who were very supportive too. Very well organized, you don't have to worry about anything but enjoying the experience. I would definitely recommend to anyone!
Short brilliant smash and grab hike
So easy to get to from Dublin , such an amazing city and a brilliant 3 day hike with Mohammed and his great team. Would highly recommend hike. Was challenging but manageable for our group. The 20 person mixed dorm at the Refuge was basic but added to the sense of camaraderie. This is our second MBA trip and wouldn't be the last.
Fantastic Jebel Toubkal Experience
The whole experience was wonderful and well organised and I'd particularly like to mention our main guide Said.
Said was excellent and professional and made sure we were well informed, well fed and was very attentive and responsive to everyone's needs and questions.