Sun, 31 Aug 2008

It used to be the case that maps of the High Atlas Mountains were incredibly difficult to get hold of except for a set of four maps at 1:100,000 scale for the region around Toubkal and one "map" of the Mgoun region published by West Col. 

All of the Atlas have been mapped at one stage or another by the French (and Russians in part also) at both 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 scale and contradict each other in place names and physical features splendidly!

On the whole the French 1:50,000 series is the most reliable. However casual visitors stand almost no chance of obtaining copies as access to them is in theory, military restricted. In some gites and CAF refuges, there is often a single map for the local area on public display (often at the 1:50,000 scale) but over time these maps have faded and so trying to pick out contour detail is often impossible.

The set of 4 maps at 1:100,000 scale for the general Toubkal area give a reasonable idea of ridge and valley systems, place names and the like but don’t try micro-navigating from them! The West Col map of Mgoun area is really a sketch type map covering main ridges and the like which gives a good general feel for the area but again, navigating from this is out of the question.

All that is now changing with the increase of mountain based tourism and the dawning realisation that actually selling maps can make money!

So in a few days we'll have a detailed look at some of these new maps currently being made available for trekkers and mountaineers alike.