Gear and training for guide service in Morocco.

Funds from this campaign will be used to (1) provide canyoning gear and guide training to create economic opportunities for young men in the Anti Atlas region of Morocco, and (2) fund my travel to Morocco in March 2023 to be part of a canyon exploration team opening new canyons in the Anti Atlas region.

Donors to this fundraising campaign are invited to join me in Morocco after 18 March to be the first to descend the newly opened canyons with the local guides.

BACKGROUND, 2016 to 2019

In 2016 and 2017 some friends from Europe -- Koen Viaene, Thierry Achmetoff, Frank Jourdan, Alain Verger and Enrica Paolini -- started exploring canyons in the Anti Atlas region of Morocco. The exploration team relied heavily on locals as guides, drivers, translators, bivouac crews, cooks and much more. Most of these locals were young people, living in a very poor region where jobs are scarce. It is common for children there to be pulled out of school to work tending meager flocks of sheep and goats and work the fields.

Some of the locals were invited to accompany the exploration team as they descended canyons. Seeing their enthusiasm and natural physical abilities, exploration team member Thierry Achmetoff came up with the idea to train locals in proper canyoning techniques and provide them with opportunities to become certified as canyon guides so they could start guiding groups down the newly discovered canyons -- similar to my own guide training projects in Nepal.

A topo guidebook of the best canyons was also planned. Unfortunately, Thierry passed away two months later in a tragic traffic accident. But his friends would not let Thierry's ideas die with him. So in the spring of 2018 they organized a small canyon guides course in the Anti Atlas and retrieved Thierry's notes to finish the beautiful guidebook. In addition, the group started to equip the best canyons with glue-in anchors, replacing the dicey "first descent" stuff, so the new guides could lead groups down the canyons more safely.

Now there were new canyons open, a published guidebook and trained canyon guides in the region, but still, hardly anyone knew the canyons existed. So in the spring of 2019 an international canyon rendezvous was organized, welcoming 90 canyoneers from 10 different countries.

Momentum was building. It should have been the start of a great success story for the enthusiastic young guides. Unfortunately, the pandemic put life on hold around the planet. Tourism dried up and the newly formed Anti Atlas canyon guiding team was limited to guiding locals for very low fees.

FRESH START, MARCH 2023

The goal of this fund raising campaign is to re-start the momentum and help the guides build a successful tourism business. A second exploration trip is planned in March 2023, including members of the original exploration team. I will also be part of that team. Goals include opening a dozen new canyons, publishing a second topo guidebook and acquiring new gear to outfit the guides and their clients.

HOW FUNDS WILL BE USED

Prior to the pandemic I was in a position to cover my own travel expenses when volunteering in places like Nepal. Funds raised in the past went entirely to acquiring gear for the guides we were training. Unfortunately, the past couple years have been extremely difficult, so I am not in the same position now. Approximately $2,500 of the funds raised in this current campaign will be used to cover my travel expenses to Morocco.

Gear requirements for the guiding team include:

The amount of money needed to acquire gear will depend on a few yet unknown factors, including how much gear we can acquire without cost or at deep discount. I am a dealer for BlueWater Ropes, Petzl, Rock Exotica and CMC Rescue. This will allow me to acquire some of the gear at wholesale prices to stretch the budget. In the past, we have received donations of canyoneering shoes, including several pairs delivered to the guides in Morocco during the 2019 rendezvous. Another source has recently offered to donate wetsuits.

I anticipate spending somewhere between $4,500 and $8,000 on gear.

Other members of the exploration team are in circumstances similar to my own. Like me, they are volunteering their time. They have committed to covering their own costs, but it won't be easy. If sufficient funds are raised in this campaign and/or sufficient money is saved acquiring gear, some funds will be used to help offset expenses incurred by other members of the team.

SCHEDULE

The exploration team will be in Morocco between 8 and 18 March 2023. I intend to stay beyond the 18th to offer additional guide training (if needed).

Donors to this fundraising campaign are also invited to come join me after the 18th to be the first to descend the newly opened canyons with the local guides.