Atlas Explorer Scouts in Wrexham have just returned from the trip of a lifetime to Morocco, where they climbed the mighty Mount Toubkal.
The group, aged 14-18, are one of five Explorer Scout Units in Wrexham, each one with a mountain-based name. So it only made sense that one day they’d head to their namesake mountain range for a bit of an adventure, taking Atlas to the Atlas Mountains.
During their time in Morocco, the ten young people and two adult leaders spent four days in the Atlas mountains, acclimatising to the high altitude, staying in mountain huts before summiting a mountain called Toubkal, at a height of 13,675 feet.
Max Schwarz, 13 from Wrexham, the youngest Explorer on the trip, said, “It was a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience and I’m really glad I went. I enjoyed learning about the Moroccan culture and found I was pretty good at bartering. Going up the mountain was fun and I enjoyed being part of the group. I’m already planning my next challenge!”
After returning to Marrakech the group went on a camel trek and met with a local Moroccan Scout group. As luck would have it as they met the group in the Night Market Square a group of four French Scouts undertaking their own expedition passed by, and they invited them to join them in a local park, where they sang campfire songs, played games and swapped badges.
Harry Lloyd, 14, also from Wrexham said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Morocco and although I found the climb difficult I have learned new skills and made loads of memories. I enjoyed learning about the Moroccan culture and going around the market. It was also good fun meeting Scouts from both Morocco and France.”
The group were led up to the summit by two professional mountain guides from Paul Poole Mountaineering. Paul said, “The team should be very proud of what they achieved, getting to the summit is not a given at this altitude. They were a great bunch of characters pulled together and absolutely ideal for a trip like this.”
Paul and his colleague Kelly were invited to join the group when the met the Moroccan and French Scouts and commented, “We really enjoyed being part of something quite special, the last evening was fantastic to just sit back and watch, we can understand why you do it.”
Oliver Coull, 17 from Wrexham said, “The trip to Morocco to climb Mount Toubkal was a great experience. It was cool to climb it with friends and the weather up to the summit was kind to us. I really enjoyed the food, views from the top, meeting other scouts from around the world, and camel riding was really fun.”
Team Leader, Trev Haughton said, “The purpose of the trip started as taking Atlas to the Atlases, and to build international friendships with a Moroccan scout group, but we now aim to use the many hundreds of photos and videos we took and hopefully inspire the next generation of Explorers.”
