DAY 1: It Begins !!....

After months of planning & prepping, the day finally arrives. Yup, Kavita & I are on our way to Morocco to conquer the snow & ice covered summit of Mt. Toubkal (4167m), the highest peak in the High Atlas mountain range in North Africa.

The Atlas Mountains run the northwestern stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km through Algeria, Morocco & Tunisia. The bulk of the high peaks, collectively known as the High Atlas, is in Morocco, easily accessible from Marrakech.

During the winter months, most of the high peaks (3000m & higher) are covered in ice/snow, with temperatures below freezing and the snow line ranging from 2000m-3500m depending on the weather conditions on any given day.

Our weather forecast at different altitudes as we climb up the mountain over the next few days is as follows. Weather conditions on a mountain are generally unpredictable and can change at suddenly at any time. You can view the latest updates here : 

http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Toubkal/forecasts/4167

Training for the climb has been fairly intensive. After the 1-Day Ben Nevis Winter Challenge in January 2014, we increased the frequency from 3 sessions to 4 continuous consecutive sessions at the gym to simulate the 5/6 days of trekking on the mountain. Our self-designed training sessions, perfected over the years, is a complex but structured combination of Cardio Vascular (for Stamina) and Weights Training (for Strength) routines within each session, with training cycles of increasing intensity. Fast recovery after each training session is equally important to avoid excessive soreness & fatigue. The key to Mountain Climbing is to find the perfect balance of Stamina and Strength for a given body size, whilst keeping your weight low as much as possible. 

The challenge on this mountain is going to be altitude and the prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures under strenuous conditions. This is the first time we are climbing to a height of over 2000m so we may be experience to Altitude Sickness. It will be interesting to see how our bodies cope with it.

I have been having cold showers back home for the past 4 weeks. I adopted a similar process when I went Ice Diving (Scuba) under the frozen White Sea within the Arctic Circle in Russia back in 2008 and it proved most effective in conditioning the body to prolonged cold temperatures. But then Mountain Climbing is a lot harder than diving. Let's hope it proves as effective again !!