It was still pitch black at 5am. Above us the stars shone and below us, the bright lights of Marrakesh were twinkling in the distance. It was a stunning scene, which felt like a little reward that made getting up early worthwhile. We forced down some very watery porridge and weak coffee, knowing that we’d… Read more

Had a great sleep out on the roof of the Refuge. A cockerel tried to break my slumber at some point early in the morning, but it was still dark, so I ignored it and fell back asleep. The walk up to the hut was very relaxed. We knew we didn’t have far to go,… Read more

Watery porridge, jam, yellow label tea and a bit of bread and cheese got us going this morning. We’ve managed to save a bit of the expedition budget, so far, so paid for an extra mule to carry our sleeping bags and food. Brilliant. It was hot work heading up out of the village to… Read more

Even with a night in the hotel at Liverpool Airport, it was still a horribly early start this morning. Breakfast was at 4am. We shuffled through the airport without incident and before we knew it, we were in Marrakesh and aiming for the mountains.  African beauocracy meant that we almost got denied entry as our… Read more

Exciting times ahead! It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it’s been ten years since I last visited Africa. After a lot of planning, packing, checking and re-checking, I think we’re just about ready to go. I’m leading a group of student mountaineers up into the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Between us, we’ve whittled our… Read more

Made the most of the glorious sunshine with a quick trip to Penmeanbach Quarry this afternoon. Climbed in a t-shirt, but the wind was cold. After a weekend of being inside in climbing walls, it felt great to be out in the sunshine on real rock. It’s such a good place to climb at this… Read more