Last Updated on January 31, 2023 by Pets Feed
Men and women from different parts of the world have tried to climb Jebel Toubkal. What about dogs? Those who often hike in the mountains know that often a dog accompanies travellers during trips. But dogs rarely make it to the top because they are not used to extreme weather conditions. And people do not always take them with them.
On September, 2019, a dog named Chica (a malinois female dog), who befriended the expedition, made the first ascent to the top of the Toubkal 4167-meter high mountain, which is located in Morocco.
This is Chica:
Chica is reported to be the first malinois dog to reach the summit of Toubkal.
Abdelhak Annajjar is a dog breeder form Casablanca, who has raised Chica since a puppy, he’s taking good care of her, and Chica is one of the best behaved malinois dog known in Casablanca (according to the owner). Abdel started training Chica for the biggest climb experience for several months, and once the moment arrived, they both travelled to Imlil (the nearest city to Toubkal).
Chica preparation program:
- Day 1: 45 minutes physical exercise (running + swimming)
- Day 2: Tire dragging exercise
- Day 3: Obedience training (Don’t move command: 40 meters)
- Day 4: Running (20 kms)
- Day 5: 1h30 on the beach (swimming + running + retrieving)
- Day 6: 30 minutes nonstop swimming
- Day 7: 30 minutes bridge climbing
- Day 8: Obedience training (Protection skills)
Jebel Toubkal or Toubkal (fr. Toubkal / Jbel Toubkal) is the highest mountain in the Atlas Mountains and Morocco, located in northwest Africa. It measures 4167 meters and is the highest point in Morocco. It is located about 60 km south of the city of Marrakech in the national park of the same name.
Abdehak told Pets Feed:
“Dogs, like humans, are also prone to altitude sickness. These are extreme fatigue, headaches and vomiting, as well as pulmonary and cerebral edema, which lead to death. Chica was lucky. She had the physical strength to adapt to the height. “
In the Chica’s case, she walked all the entire course on her own, without the help of her owner.
Abdelhak added:
“On the way, she ran past more than 50 other climbers, crossed rocks with dangerous crevasses and stopped in order to wait for me.”
2 climbers form Australia were extremely impressed by the force and strength of Chica, and didn’t miss the chance to take pictures with her.
Other climbers (a team from the UK) said that even they’ve climbed Toubkal many times, they did never meet a dog in the adventures.
Chica was recording the whole trip, thanks to a camera attached to her back.
Next, Abdelhak and Chica are preparing to climb the Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain in the world: 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level and about 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) above its plateau base.
In this expedition, Chica was with Abdelhak and 2 other guys accompanying them in this adventure.
Chica the malinois dog and Abdelhak Annajjar on the top of the Toubkal mountain
The trip plan:
- Departure from Imlil: 12:00 am
- Arrival to the shelter: 7:30 pm
- Departure from the shelter: 3:00 am
- Arrival the Toubkal top: 7:00 am
You can watch the entire trip in this video:
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