on a mountain with a horseshoe cirque in its heart of huge proportions, is very desirable.
The great cliffs of Mouriq
We first set eyes on Mouriq, Laqroun, the Cathedral and Zawyat Ahancal in April 1995 because snow on GTAM95 had forced us to make this northern detour from Imilchil. On the second long day of walking we wended up from Tasraft to a tizi from which Mouriq appeared, a great snowy dome which became the backcloth to our camp a few hours later. By then it had gone on our list of desirable summits. Descending to Anergui (1465m) next day we saw its monumentally spectacular side – the mountain is a horseshoe cirque, with slopes and cliffs 1500m high, and five tops of 2901m, 3103m, 3193m, 3242m and 3078m encircling this aqqa down to Anergui. When we returned in October 2000 and climbed this very high-class mountain I reckon it gave as near perfect a mountain day as one can enjoy and a view which I called ‘exceptional’. And we hadn’t even planned to climb it on that occasion.
The view from camp below Mouriq
We were ‘Land Rover trekking’, so to speak, and had visited the Imi n’ Ifri (natural arch above Demnate) and the Cascades d’Ouzoud (one of the world’s most beautiful waterfalls), and wended along the big Bin el Ouidane reservoir to Ouaouizaght (Wawizart), a small town where we made a major shopping, then ended up camping at a spring where the road spans the eastern end of the lake. This tortuous road gives access to the Cathedral, Zawyat Ahancal, Aroudane and others. We took it to Tamga, below the Cathedral, and then the impressive aqqa piste up to Anergui. We had intended to tackle an amazing set of hairpin bends to get through to Imilchil, but the road was temporarily impassible. An alternative was needed – and there, as we sat in an Anergui café, loomed Mouriq’s great cirque.
The lushness of high fields
We drove up the limestone-tough piste above, backtracking as it were on GTAM95, and near the head of the Tezgui valley camped below a prominent bump (2392m) in the middle of the glen. There were many nomad tents and flocks, and they were beginning to pack up and depart for lower southern pastures before winter came in. There was a definite end-of-season feeling in the evening chill. It was dark at 18.00 and the night was cold, clear and with a shock of stars. A big toad kept trying to come in to share my tent.
The ascent went happily, making a long, gentle circling to hit the crest just east of broad 3103m (Bou Ouzuou, ‘the windy one’). We passed a rocky bulge on the way to a cone beyond, but a white line of snow indicated a path skirting on the inner rim, with just room between the cliffs and slope above. The amount of snow increased after 3193m, but it was firm and friendly. Another cone gave a view to the 3242m summit. Square ruins might have been the base for a one-time trig point. We sat for ages admiring the wall-to-wall view – from Ayyachi in the far north-east to Mgoun features in the south-west. Today we had naming of peaks. Someone joked that not only could I pick them out – I could pronounce them! (Maybe.) We backtracked and went on to 2901m Aftis on the western arm before descending to camp. It was such a relaxing, perfect day I didn’t even note times taken; just took the benison of a benign hill day.
On Mouriq
We took a piste up the western slopes (2598m) not far away from camp to exit to Taguelft back on the Bin Ouidane road, very rough but being improved. By now these road lines will all be good piste or even goudron, but a Land Rover might still be advisable – a demanding landscape.
MGOUN RANGES
Azella-Timghazine and the Tagia akka (Route 9)
ROUTE NINE
Aroudane (formerly Aioui) 3359m
| Commitment | A mountain offering serious rock climbing but, nevertheless, an easy walk to its summit from a camp, after a day or two’s driving to reach the area. |
| Maps | 100: Zawyat Ahancal, 50: Zawyat Ahancal. MM adequate and quite possible without a map. |
| Texts | BD lists and illustrates many of the rock climbs. HB describes the ascent fully, and AFC is comprehensive. |
| Travel to start | The easiest way in is goudron, then piste from Azilal through Aït Mhammed towards the Bou Guemez, but then flanking Azurki to descend to Assemsouk. Alternatively from the Bin el Ouidane lake in to Tamga and the Ahancal valley to Zawyat Ahancal from which a piste zigzags up and over to Assemsouk. But trekking to reach Aroudane is highly recommended. From the Azurki view campsite the ascent is only c530m. |
| Local assistance | The Bou Guemez has guides/mules available, and trekking from there is one option; but, better, rendezvous at Zawyat Ahancal for the days described. |
The Ahancal valley is dominated by kilometres of cliffs (paradise for climbers) on vast Aroudane, while a pleasing back-door ascent opens it up for the walker.
Aroudane
The name-change from Aioui to Aroudane at least makes this hill one that can now be pronounced with some confidence. It presents a north face of several kilometres, with endless rock climbs of up to 800m, yet has had little in the way of visits from British climbers. The base is Zawyat Ahancal or Agoudim, where there are gîtes, and beyond which lie even more spectacular climbing opportunities in soaring buttresses and canyons with vertical walls. This is the Chamonix of the Atlas, but with decent weather. As Aroudane dominates a major east–west trekking route we had admired its array of crags often enough to want, at least, to stand on top of the mountain. Easy enough; a bit like Ben Nevis in Scotland, where walkers photograph the impressive cliff side and then go up a tourist path. Not that Aroudane has a tourist path. Its neglect by climbers is perhaps due to its one-time inaccessibility. Now there are good roads and/or pistes up to Zawyat Ahancal or in by Aït Mhammed, making the approach run impressive in itself.
Taking a sheep to the weekly souk, Zawyat Ahancal
From Azilal through Aït Mhammed the old route for the Bou Guemez valley is followed for 25km, a good road today and not the horror described in Route 15. At a junction, below the snowy sail of Azurki, a good piste heads north-east to flank this mountain, crosses the Tizi n’ Tselli-n-Imanain (2763m) and descends to Assemsouk (2400m), which really is a souk in the middle of nowhere that comes alive on Tuesdays. The piste climbs again to the Tizi n’ Ilissi (2606m) and snakes down the crest north of the Ilissi valley, on whose other side is arrayed, in Peyron’s words, ‘one of the most awe-inspiring mountainscapes in Morocco’ – Aroudane.
Oujdad, above Agoudim
Charles, Ali and I headed for Aroudane from one of my favourite camping spots. We had reached it by following the mule track up the Ilissi valley after a pleasant stay in one of the dramatic old tower houses in Agoudim. Valley and tizi gave endless superb views. Not far down on the west side of the tizi we took
