The High Atlas. Hamish Brown

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СКАЧАТЬ 7 The Cathedral (Mastfrane)

       8 Mouriq

       MGOUN RANGES

       9 Aroudane (Aioui)

       10 Jbel Azurki

       11 Ouaougoulzat

       12 Adar n’ Ouchane, Jbel Anzig, Jbel Amezrika and Imejdag

       13 Jbel Tigounatine

       14 Tizi Mkorn

       15 Ighil Mgoun (Oumsoud)

       16 Jbel-n-Nig (Oumassine) and Jbel Tazoult-n-Ouguerd (Aslad)

       17 Jbel Aklim

       WESTERN CENTRAL ATLAS

       18 Jbel Tizoula

       19 Jbel Rhat and Tignousti

       20 Jbel Anghomer

       21 Tissili n’ Warg

       22 Jbel Tastwiyt group

       23 Adrar Tircht (Jbel bou Ourioul)

       24 Adrar Yagour

       25 Adrar Meltzen

       THE TOUBKAL MASSIF

       26 Kik Plateau edge

       27 Jbel Toubkal

       28 The Ouanoukrims

       29 Aksouâl

       30 Adrar n’ Inghemar

       31 Angour

       32 Taska n’ Zat

       33 Tazaghart

       WEST OF THE TIZI N’ TEST ROAD

       34 Jbel Gourza

       35 Jbel Erdouz

       36 Igdat

       37 Adrar-n-Oumzra

       38 Jbel Tabgourt

       39 Jbel Ikkis

       THE TICHKA PLATEAU

       40 Amendach

       41 Takoucht

       42 Flillis

       43 Moulay Ali

       44 Imaradene (Tassiwt)

       FURTHER WEST

       45 Ras Moulay Ali

       46 Mtdadene

       47 Jbel Awlim and Jbel Tinergwet

       48 Azegza

       THE SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN RANGES

       Appendix A Glossary

       Appendix B Texts, books and maps

       Appendix C What to take

       Appendix D The highest summits

       Appendix E Contacts

      Skiing on Jbel Oukaïmeden, with Angour behind (Route 31)

      An Afensou threshing floor, with Moulay Ali in the distance (Route 45)

      INTRODUCTION

      Morocco’s Atlas Mountains form an extensive series of ranges across the north-west corner of Africa – very much a barrier against the interior desert, yet influenced by Atlantic and Mediterranean weather. At Heathrow airport I once had quite a job convincing the girl at the check-in desk that I did want my skis flown to Marrakech. The glory of that red city, with its ramparts and palms, is the seasonal view south to glittering snow-covered mountains that stretch and dip beyond the horizons east and west. When Sir Francis Drake gathered his ships off the Moroccan coast before his round-the-world voyage he saw snowy mountains inland; he wasn’t believed either.

      The Western Atlas from Marrakech (Route 35)

      The snows are vital to the Atlas and neighbouring plains. Marrakech is built at a specific distance from the mountains – at the point to which water will run along irrigation channels by gravity. The mountains may be a geological wreckage, but the valleys are highly populated by Berber tribes, the indigenous people who have been there for thousands of years. (The Arabs arrived only in the seventh century.) The closest country in Africa to Europe, Morocco was the last to be taken over by a European imperial power, in 1912. (The carve-up arrangement was that France got Morocco and Britain got Egypt.) Like many fiercely independent people the Berbers are tough but marvellously hospitable, and wanderings in the Atlas gains immeasurably from this background.

      I originally went to Morocco to climb, but even in the early years discovered the greatest pleasure was wandering off, pack on back, and exploring on and on, seeing an alluring distant summit, heading for it, and from its summit seeing others, on and on … The ultimate experience of this came in 1995 when a quartet of us trekked from one end of the Atlas to the other over 96 days. (The route, nicknamed GTAM95 (Great Traverse of the Atlas Mountains 1995) is described in my book The Mountains Look on Marrakech (see Appendix B), referred to as ‘HB’ in this book). And that simply showed us dozens of new possible trips, making the subsequent years the best of all. We also, early on in our exploration of the Atlas, discovered that mules were available to hire and carry rucksacks, food and camping gear. This lifts trekking in the Atlas to a unique level of pleasure. СКАЧАТЬ