HENAN HARIT

Morocco- In recent years, the number of female mountaineers in Morocco has increased. Moroccan female mountaineers want to prove that women can climb the highest peaks like men. Bouchra Baibanou (53) is the first Moroccan to climb Everest, the highest summit in the world. She is also the first person to climb Everest in North Africa, and the third in Arab countries. She climbed the seven highest peaks of the world between 2011 and 2015.

She never gives up her dreams

Bouchra Baibanou told JINHA how her mountaineering adventure started. “I began to climb mountains when I was 20 years old. I first climbed to the summit of Mount Toubkal (4167 m). After convincing my father, I went to the city of Marrakech and climbed the summit. After my marriage, I kept climbing mountains. My husband climbed several summits with me. In 2011, I convinced him to go to Tanzania. I never give up following my dreams,” she told us. In 2011, Bouchra Baibanou climbed the Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, and Mount Elbrus, the highest and most prominent peak in Europe. In 2014, she went to Latin America and climbed to the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina.

In the summer of 2014, she climbed to the summit of Mount Denali (6,190 m), the highest mountain peak in North America. The next year, she went to Asia and climbed to the summit of Carstensz Pyramid, the highest point in Indonesia. Then, she decided to climb Mount Everest to realize her dream. In May 2017, she managed to climb it and becomes the first Moroccan to climb Everest. “It was a near-death experience for me. I thought I would die when I slipped and almost fell. But I managed to reach the summit, and I felt so happy.”

Royal medal

Bouchra Baibanou told us that she was invited to Tanger Royal Palace on August 21, 2015, and she was given a medal. She is now the chief of the women's commission in the federation Royale Moroccan of skiing and mountain sport. She wants to encourage girls to be mountaineers. “After spending two years in a strict lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I want to climb to the Himalayas in 2022,” she told us.

The first Moroccan woman climbed to a mountain with her baby

Ibtissame Azzaoui is another determined Moroccan female mountaineer. She climbed to the summit of Mount Toubkal with her four-month-old baby to record a new challenge as the first Moroccan woman to climb to the summit of Mount Toubkal with her baby. Stating that she faced many difficulties in climbing the mountain with her son, Ibtissame Azzaoui said that she tried to protect her son throughout her journey. “Climbing mountains is not easy; you should be determined to climb mountains. You should also have the training to climb. More women should climb mountains.”