I’m just back from an eventful week in Morocco. The aim was to climb Toubkal (4,167m) and be the first British team to paraglide from the summit. Things didn’t quite turn out as planned. The week before we arrived there was a serious paragliding accident which ended with the pilot being evacuated by an RAF helicopter that just happened to be in the country. This resulted in the Moroccan authorities closing the local area to paragliding until further notice so we had to go further afield to get in the air. The flying we had was sensational – lovely long thermic flights overlooking mountains and brown plains.

The walk to the summit of Toubkal was fantastic, after initial poor forecasts, the weather was looking favourable for our flight from the top. In the end, we summitted in 60km/hr winds and sub zero temperatures which made taking off impossible. The views from well above the low lying clouds were beautiful. We had to make do with a consolation flight from lower down the mountain where the winds were much lighter. See a write-up of the trip by one of the team here.

During our week our team helped down a girl suffering from altitude sickness as well as assisting another group after a heart attack fatality on a high take off – that is another story in itself, but after that experience I am signing up for a first aid course. Back at work now planning a return…