Читать книгу Mountaineering in the Moroccan High Atlas. Walks, climbs & scrambles over 3000M онлайн

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Morocco became a French protectorate in 1912 under the Treaty of Fez. Thereafter, the French carried out most of the exploration of the Atlas until the 1960s.

A small group of French alpinists formed the Moroccan High Atlas section of the Club Alpine Français (CAF) in 1922. Shortly afterwards, it was established that Jbel Toubkal was the highest peak in the range. A small party led by the French Lieutenant Marquis de Segonzac climbed the peak in June 1923 and claimed the first ascent. The first British man to climb Jbel Toubkal was Bentley Beetham in 1926, two years after his return from the famous ‘Mallory and Irvine’ expedition to Everest.

Louis Léon Charles Neltner (1903–1985) was a geologist and mountaineer awarded the French Légion d'Honneur for his achievements in the First World War. He was the geologist in the first French expedition to the Karakoram in 1936. He spent more than 20 years exploring the Moroccan High Atlas and Anti-Atlas in both roles – as geologist and mountaineer. The original refuge at the foot of Toubkal was named after him, which is why on some maps the CAF refuge below Toubkal (now called Toubkal refuge) is still marked as the Neltner refuge.