Skiing in Morocco - The Journey to the Top

We woke up rubbed our eyes stared out the bedroom window and low and behold there were the stunning Atlas Mountains sparkling in the brilliant blue sky back at us. Right I said get your gear on, we are off - we have a special bag full of ski gear just for these moments so that we can jump into our salapets and snow boots and whizz off. Marrakech to Oukaimenden is about 1.5 hours drive of superb scenery. Our daughter used to suffer terribly from motion sickness on the windy mountain road but, this time she seemed fine which was great as it shortened our trip.

There was great excitement in the car as she had a new toboggan for Christmas and was desperate to try it out, I also had new skis and boots so was equally eager to get up there.

This winter has been incredibly warm in Marrakech unlike the rest of Europe. We have been waiting for snow in the mountains and haven't actually had much. It was beautiful up there but very warm and bright - you need serious sun glasses for the glare. In the morning the skiing wasn't much fun as it was complete ice and rather like skiing on rocks. It got hotter and the snow got softer and more enjoyable to ski on. Oh by the way if your going up there to ski, be careful of the second button lift, I thought my arms had come out of their sockets as I was jettisoned into the distance I nearly left my boots behind as I took off!!

It was exhausting walking up this huge hill in deep snow to shoot down it on toboggans but what a view! Spectacular. Friends were up there having a picnic and a glass of wine. It doesn't get much better than this. You see living in Morocco can be really tough but it has its moments that more than make up for the less impressive.