Thread: Snowboarding the Atlas Mountains in Morocco

This is my first post/trip report, so bear with me. Enjoy...

This past February, chasing my goal to snowboard on all 7 continents, I made my way to Oukaimeden, Morocco, Africa.

Inspired by a Roxy video I found on YouTube, the trip was impulsively booked on Christmas Eve with very little research on, well, anything. In the following days I made my first contact with Moroccan locals in Marrakech who advised me, "there is typically no snow on the dates you arrive...you should reconsider bringing your equipment...but...we have exciting camel trips to the Sahara." FML and a very merry Christmas to me!



Hearing this my photographer buddy promptly bailed. I couldn't really blame him, but this did leave me solo and contemplating what I had got myself into.

Despite weeks of research leading up to the February trip, I boarded my flight and was left wondering if I would actually find snow in Morocco. I knew there was a chairlift, I knew there were mountains and I knew I didn't speak Arabic or French. No one had been able to confirm any snow pack or if I had a place to stay when I arrived.

It turned out to be the most epic snowboard trip of my life.

I had arrived in Marrakesh and found myself a riad/guest house, Mama Marrakech, right in the middle of 'old town'. Stay here if you ever go. I pulled my board bag through the old wooden doorway only to find stacks of surfboards, not snowboards, and awkward glances from the other tourists. Most thought I was crazy and reminded me of the record snowfall Europe and North America was receiving.

After a restless night sleeping on single mattress on the floor, I woke early to negotiate a 3 hour cab ride from Marrakech to the the Atlas Mountains and my final destination of Oukaimeden - a steal at only $35. The roads were dotted with stone huts, goats and camels. They became windy as we passed through various peaks climbing up 3000m towards the snowline. Finally, at shortly after 9am we had arrived.





Oukaimeden was like no resort I had ever been to. The muddy street was bustling with delivery trucks, shuttle busses and of course goats and donkeys. There were several run down chalets painted in tones of pink and yellow, but not an obvious hotel in sight. My driver was happy to take me to one called Hotel Ju Ju. They promptly offered me a room for $80 or $120 if I wanted a view. This was ten times more than I had paid the night previously in Marrakech. My driver seemed to be insulted at this offer and pulled me to the next chalet. After a little negotiating they agreed to open a dorm situated over the boiler room. It had 2 bunks and would only cost me $23 a night including meals. Done!



I payed and tipped my driver. The hotel allowed me to change in a janitors closet so I could hit the slopes ASAP. I rushed out the door and headed for the chairlift in the distance. A wave of heat consumed me, as did a heard of donkey shuttlers, each one offering me a ride to the chairlift for one or two dollars. Of course I took them up on this. Who wouldn't?




The ride was 15 minutes to the base of a steep 1000m vertical chairlift. We passed the beginner tow ropes, more donkeys, ancient stone villages, make-shift ski rentals hocking 30 year old gear that was sitting in mud puddles and of course lots of local stares.







More stone huts awaited me at the base, one of which was a ticket booth. I paid $10 for my day pass and went to board the lift. I hadn't even noticed it wasn't running. I found a local who spoke some english who explained that the lift would not open unless 4 people bought day passes. I thought to myself, "For $40 I could get this lift going?" As I pondered this the chairlift hummed into motion.

It was bizarre to board a ski lift decked out in all the latest gear while surrounded by locals in burkas, not to mention I was the only snowboarder. A young Moroccan scurried through the line to ride next to me. He introduced himself on the lift explaining that he was "professional skier from Cassablanca...first class all way. He be me guide." Sure, why not.






He proceed to take me right to the top - 4200m according to the signs. We unstrapped and hiked for 10 minutes. I dropped into one of the most terrifyingly epic runs of my life. Think about riding Whistler's Spanky's Ladder on an icy early season day except the cliffs surrounding you are 300-400m drops. I raced behind my guide at mach speed dodging exposed wires, safety-netting and boulders. Coming out of the thick of it he caught an edge and slid down 200m of icy slope before he was caught by a safety net. I edged down to make sure he was ok only to find a 300m cliff on the opposing side of the net. He was smiling ear to ear telling me that some people lose skies over that edge. Really? That should be the least of his worries.







After a few more harrowing runs the locals were eager to see what snowboarding was all about. We built a little lip onto a rock ledge behind the base of the of the lift. I sessioned it for about an hour drawing crowds from time to time, even giving my autograph. This must be what pros feel like. Lucky bastards!








The evenings were relatively quiet, but myself and four other European and Canadian travellers did manage to find beer. As it turned out, it was school holidays in Casablanca and the chalet I thought I was staying in was actually a ski school. The school kids would pester us and I rewarded them with shop stickers from home. Even my 'guide' would show up from time to time to introduce me to his friends.



After three more days steep icy riding I was ready to head off. Prior to leaving for Morocco Gnu came through hooked me up with a snowboard to donate to the local shredders. My initial plan was to donate the board to my guide, but realizing I was staying in a ski school I thought they might get the best use of it. The kids were stoked! I can't even explain it. A ski school became a ski AND snowboard school. We snapped a quick photo and I was off. By the next day I would be riding camels in the Sahara.




Snowboarded in Africa? Check.

Best spam ever!
Pics of nekkid brown boys coming?

Crazy ass trip. This TR would be so much better if you imbed those pics. PIA like this. Adventurous spirit. Cool to donate the board. Well done.

photos now embedded. Sweet TR.

I don't even see his post. What did you do?!

Seems to have disappeared completely...

Should be fixed now.

What a cool tr!

EPIC......

Rad. Gotta love rolling the dice and coming up big!

I think that trip sounds neat. You should have given them your snowboard as well. Thanks for posting.

Been wanting to go there for a long time.
I heard there were some sweet chutes if you ride the donkeys off the top a ways out along the ridge.
You get out there?

Splat, yah there are some pretty epic chutes, made even better because Moroccans don't really ride out of bounds. The snow was fresh even days after the last snow fall. You can traverse all over the place, but keep in mind often only one side of the mountain has snow while the other is exposed to the sun, so it's easy to find yourself trapped and hiking out. The donkey guides will track your descent down the mountain and pick you up from the bottom, but I didn't see any donkeys at the top.

Sweet TR !!!!

Interesting. We were a couple mountains over in Febuary..

http://klartellsstories.blogspot.com...t-granada.html

Cool experience for sure.

I was there in Feb with some (non skier) friends because in the off season its really cheap to get to, nice to see what the skiing is like. Shot of a friend of mine going local, this was the closest we got to skiing:

Skiing in Africa has been on my list for the last few years. I too have been thinking of skiing 7 continents....been dealing for unfun stuff and I'm slowly getting my head above water, so I can start focusing on skiing again.

7 continents: I'm only missing Australia, Asia, Africa and Antarctica. No problem, especially if you consider these guys (see link) skied 7 in 10 days.
http://www.ski710.blogspot.ca/

MadPatSki, I'm more on pace for 7 continents in 10 years as opposed to days. My recommendation, though I haven't snowboarded in Antarctica or South America yet, would be start with Asia - Northern Japan. Best snow I've found so far.

Originally Posted by BoredSoBoard

MadPatSki, I'm more on pace for 7 continents in 10 years as opposed to days. My recommendation, though I haven't snowboarded in Antarctica or South America yet, would be start with Asia - Northern Japan. Best snow I've found so far.

South America or Australia (being in Vancouver) would make it the best skiing in the summer on the planet. Never been to Japan (on the list), but its also prime Northern Hemisphere season plus work/family issues are harder to negotiate. Older daughter ski races and I'm willing to sacrifice some powder to bring her to the hill and encourage her.

I imagine Africa can be cheap, but SA is a good deal when you do your own planning. My 2 weeks in 2010 cost be approx $2300 for return trip Ottawa-Santiago, 4000km on buses, 9 days of skiing at 4 different places and most meals in restaurants.

I was hoping for NZ this summer, but cash/planning/time is conspiring against me.

Yah, Australia was my first overseas skiing. Very easy access from Vancouver. I worked at Perisher for a season when I was 18.

I'll have to hit you up for advice on South America when the time comes. I'm thinking it'll have to wait until next summer as my girlfriend somehow got it in her head that summer is meant for surf trips this year. I'm still working on convincing her otherwise...

Originally Posted by BoredSoBoard

Yah, Australia was my first overseas skiing. Very easy access from Vancouver. I worked at Perisher for a season when I was 18.

A great ski buddies of mine with is a life time away from some people posting here spent 2 summers teaching on the South Island. I was the first that started talking about skiing and New Zealand back when I was 18 (Trudeau was still Prime Minister ) ... in 1983. I wondered brochures and stuff, he borrowed my brochures later on. He moved to Whistler in the Fall 87, skied NZ summers 88 and 89. I have 2 other friends that have been.

Originally Posted by BoredSoBoard

I'll have to hit you up for advice on South America when the time comes. I'm thinking it'll have to wait until next summer as my girlfriend somehow got it in her head that summer is meant for surf trips this year. I'm still working on convincing her otherwise...

You might want to ask some maggots, but there is some surfing spots in Chile. I know we chatted with Rob Boyd in Portillo back in 2007. He was talking how the National team (or himself) spent time surfing before the camp.

I'm working on reposting everything on my blog...I have a few more TRs to repost.

wild TR...reminds me of those skiing dreams i have just before the first snows fall...always a weird hybrid of the familiar and the unusual.

the donkey ride, that scene at the base of the mountain with guys peddling and renting old gear, the we-don't-run-the-lift-til-we get-4-riders and the exotic location all fit the bill for dreamlike.

props (or madness) for taking such a long journey unsure of whether there'd even be snow!
looks like you found snow, a bit of stardom and got to introduce snowboarding to the ski school.

before long there will be moroccan kids all over that mountain wearing tall tees, sitting in the middle of the trails and scraping the snow off the bumps

had never really thought about the skiing in africa (especially with kilimanjaro's cap ever receeding) and today: two unusual TR's from the continent.

good work!

Thanks buckethead. It was very surreal. From what I understand a development company (out of Dubai I think) has purchased the entire mountain and has plans to use snow making capabilities to convert it into a world class snow destination. I'm not sure what impact this will have on the muddy rentals and donkey rides. While I was there I spotted freshly delivered grooming machines (still in plastic wrap), so I'd say get there before it booms.

Awesome TR, you rock man.