Snowdon Weekend

We have just completed our first Snowdon Weekend of 2009 and thankfully the weather was pretty kind.

Saturday on the Glyders was a little windy and the visibility was poor at times but we made it up Glyder Fawr in time for lunch (tea & welsh cakes), then it was onto Glyder Fach and the Cantilever stone before dropping down to Llyn Bochlwyd and finally back to base for more tea and cakes.

It was then time for a few well earnt beers in the evening after dinner.

Sunday the weather was much kinder and we had perfect conditions for our ascent of Snowdon, the last 100mts to the summit proved to be a bit of a challenge with there still being snow and ice on the path but we made finally to the summit for lunch.

After a good lunch we slowly made our way back down to Pen Y Pass Via the Miners Track enjoying the sunshine and views on route.

Jebel Toubkal

We have just completed our first winter ascent of jebel Toubkal 4187mts the highest mountain in North Africa. With record levels of snow fall on the High Atlas this year we had perfect winter conditions.

Starting from the small berber village of Imlil passing through walnut and cherry orchids, we soon hit the snow line at 1900mts. After 6hrs trekking up the stunning valley we finally made it to our base camp in Neltner at 3207mts.

An early start the following morning saw us start our final ascent of Toubkal, there had been heavy snow over night and it was knee deep at times so the going was pretty tuff, but everyone made good time and finally summited after 4hrs and were rewarded with breath taking views over the High Atlas.

We then descended back down to base camp for a much needed lunched and finally back down to Imlil exhausted but very happy.

We then spent the next day in Marrakesh before heading home.

Sahara

Congratulations to everyone who completed the 100km Sahara Trek.

With out trusty ships of the desert loaded up we set off into Sahara.

Day one was a nice easy short day just to get us into the swing of things, we arrived into camp nice and early set up camp and enjoyed our first of many nights under the stars.

The weather soon changed with heavy snow falling in the High Atlas which brings strong winds to the Sahara we were lucky or unlucky enough to experience a full blown sand storm one night which gave the camp a right old beating with tents being blown down.

The wind stopped the day we climbed Chagaga a 300ft sand dune the views from the summit were truly amazing.

Our last couple of days were spent crossing a huge salt flats were me managed to cover some big distances.

After 7 days of sand and stars we were finally back at our hotel for a much needed shower and cold beer.