In March 2013 I skied in the Atlas mountains for the first time (click here to read the trip report). I summited some peaks around the Toubkal hut and skied perfect corn snow. Apparently there is another, more remote, hut from where one can access a number of beautiful couloirs. In February 2014 I visited Refuge Tazaghart in order to ski the best lines Africa has to offer…
Morocco offers several options for skiing. If you’re looking for couloirs however, there is only one place. Refuge Tazaghart is surrounded by many narrow corridors, all pretty easily accessible. Couloir ouest de l’Adad was spotted when climbing couloir Occidental on the opposite side of the valley. It looked simply amazing and had to be skied. February 7, 2014, together with Jurriaan Huisman, I decided to give it a go.
Morocco offers several options for skiing. If you’re looking for couloirs however, there is only one place. Refuge Tazaghart is surrounded by many narrow corridors, all pretty easily accessible. One of the better couloirs in the area is Couloir Median which offers two variations. Looker’s right there is a very narrow couloir, nice and steep. I climbed and skied it on February 6, 2014, together with Jurriaan Huisman.
The lake district in both Chile and Argentina is a perfect location to ski some volcanoes during the Southern Hemisphere’s spring. Most of them can be skied in one day. For two of them a multi-day trip is required. Mount Tronador is more of a mountaineering objective and therefore lacking a great ski descent. The biggest ski objective of all the volcanoes therefore is Volcan Lanin. A two-day trip will get you to the summit of 3776 meters from where you can ski down a beautiful couloir on the East flank of the volcano…
Bariloche is a popular town for tourism located in the lake district of Argentina. It has some beautiful scenery to offer which attracts outdoor minded people both in summer and winter. In winter many people go skiing at the well-known resort of Cerro Catedral. This resort gives also access to a backcountry area next to a great hut, refugio Frey. This backcountry area is known for having great couloirs…
Skiing in Europe and North America is really popular but there is one resort in the Southern hemisphere that offers almost unlimited offpiste – and backcountry skiing. This place is Las Leñas in Argentina. With over 200 documented offpiste / backcountry runs it is a true mecca for skiers all over the world. One of the finest runs accessible without much effort is Hourglass, a beautiful steep couloir…
Initially I went to Morocco ‘just’ to ski on the African continent. I expected bad snow conditions and relatively boring terrain. As low expectations are always a good thing, it turned out I had great springsnow in the tail end of the season, perfect weather and some interesting terrain. The last day of the trip I skied the couloir from Brèche des Clochetons just opposite the Refuge des Mouflons, a great finish of a great skitrip!
When you’re on a long trip, skiing in the Rockies would not be my first pick. One of the most economical options for good skiing worldwide is Gulmarg in Kashmir. The skiing can be absolutely worldclass but unfortunately it still comes with a price…
