The pipe sucks in Africa. Just kidding... but not really. We spent about 6 days riding Oukamieden in Morocco. It was pretty good overall.
The terrain at the resort looks like it could be pretty amazing on the right day but it's hard to time it right at a resort that gets so little snow. We were lucky enough to see about a foot of snow one night but it might have been a bit too much because it killed the power for the rest of the trip. No power not only meant no electricity, save a few short bursts from 20 minute runs of a generator for the hotel, but no chairlift as well.
One interesting little adventure took place on our 3rd night in Oukamieden. As I tucked in for bed, the photographer I was rooming with, who we will call Gary for anonymity's sake, suddenly made the most horrific scream I have and probably will ever hear. I expected some sort of explanation for his yell, like maybe some horrible bug had jumped out and bit him or maybe he had seen the devil (the scream was bad enough that I wouldn't have doubted even that) but when I realized Gary wasn't going to tell me what had happened I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom where he was. When I got there, I saw Gary lying on the floor shaking like a wet dog as blood poured out of his mouth. It should be known that we were so far away from any sort of medical service that we might as well have been on the moon. Gary was in a tough spot. I tried to calm him down and put a pillow behind his head but he didn't even seem to notice I was there. He just lye on the floor shaking like hell with this terrified look on his face and blood running out of his mouth. Its hard to describe how gnarly it was at the time but I literally thought he was going to die right there in my arms. I yelled for help and luckily an old friend of Gary's came and that helped to calm him down and bring him back to reality. Gary had never had a seizure before in his life but he decided to stay in Morocco and he finished out the rest of the trip with no other problems.
Even with no lift we made the best of it. The girls all worked hard, rode very well, and got alot done. Thanks to Stine Brun-Kjeldaas, Anne Fast, Jasmine Wilson and all the riders for makeing it happen. Extra special thanks to our guide Stephan and his assistant.
As of right now I just to back to SLC and managed to lose my wallet on the way here. I usually don't lose stuff so I'm blaming it on not sleeping more than an hour last night and traveling half way around the world today. Tomorrow I have to get on a flight to Reno at 8AM and hopefully I'll have the wallet thing figured out by then.
L'Oukaimeden
African Pow
Atlas mountains. Powers out.
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