Having climbed a few mountains in Eryri, I thought this qualified me to undertake the highest mountain in North Africa. Mount Toubkal is at 4167m and Yr Wyddfa is at 1085m. Given I had already climbed Yr Wyddia I thought what’s a few more thousand metres between mountains? Turns out a lot
actually. I was working for an Expedition Company who had sent thousands of young people up this very same mountain, and our explicit advice was to make sure they did an acclimatisation trek the day before the ascent. Did we listen to the very same advice we had drummed into the ears of every Mountain Leader on our roll call? Nah. We thought we were ok to cope with altitude, because we had a bad
attitude. Like the start of every disaster movie where peril befalls the arrogant lead who thinks the rules don’t apply to them, I set off for a sunrise summit attempt at 3am from the base camp, without any
acclimatisation. Coupled with a distinct lack of rest, another sharp lesson less oxygen does not allow you to sleep
easy, and unable to eat anything due to feeling sick, off I went. An hour into the ascent the sickness began to worsen and our very patient guides attended to mine
and my fellow climbers ailments with a grace and compassion, we ignorant fools did not deserve. The clock moved quicker than our sickly legs, so the sunrise summit was slipping faster than my appetite. However I’ve always been a stubborn, bull-headed person, thank you Taurus, and, yes I will attribute the successful attempt at getting to the peak for sunrise to my star sign, because it definitely wasn’t prior training, failure to break in my new boots or adhering to my very own acclimatisation that
got me there, it was in the stars, and our excellent guides! The ascent was just as tricky, still saddled with sickness and now swollen lips, did you know the air is much colder up there? You probably did, I nervously navigated steep declines, scree that was not
kind underfoot and a headache that reminded me how out of my depth I was. Getting back to the refuge was just that. Finally able to allow the gravitas of what I had done to sink in, now that I was no longer hurling up nothing, the tears came. I had conquered the highest mountain in North Wales, and even though it wasn’t glamorous, the feeling of accomplishment was worth every wobbly step. Would I do it again? Absolutely, but definitely with an acclimatisation trek
first.
