Many people are surprised to learn that Morocco has snow. The peaks of the High Atlas are white in winter, and there are even ski resorts in the mountains. The town of Ouka茂meden, two hours from Marrakech, has ski lifts going up to 3,200 metres.
The Atlas Mountains are home to the Amazigh people, who have lived in these valleys for thousands of years. Many villages are built from the same red mud and stone as the mountainside - which is why the houses look like they grew out of the ground rather than being built on top of it.
Apple, walnut and almond trees grow on the lower slopes. Higher up, shepherds walk their goats and sheep along narrow paths. The Atlas is full of rivers that come from melting snow at the top, which is why so many gardens, palm groves and farms have survived for so long in such a dry country.
The mountains also act like a wall. They block hot wind from the Sahara on one side and rain from the Atlantic Ocean on the other. The countryside on each side of the Atlas looks completely different because of this - green and farmable on the north, dry and desert-like on the south.