New map of Toubkal

A new map has recently been produced for the Toubkal area (with Marrakech on the reverse).

Published by a Spanish company, Orientazion, and distributed by MapIberia, this is a plastic water-resistant trekking map of the Toubkal area and surroundings and also comes with a plan of Marrakech on the reverse!

The 1:50,000 scale map is approximately centred on the village of Imlil, about 8km north of Toubkal, and covers an area measuring 32km E-W by 22km N-S. Topographic detail includes contours at 20m intervals, hill-shading, woodland and scrub areas, springs, rivers and dry riverbeds. Road detail includes tracks and footpaths and ski-lifts at Oukaimeden are also shown. Isolated buildings are marked along with refuges and religious buildings. A 1km UTM grid (map datum WGS84) is drawn over the map and margin ticks are at 1’ intervals.

On the reverse is a clear plan of Marrakech at approximately 1:8,700. Centered around Bab nKob, it covers the Medina district and extends westwards to the main railway station, northwards to the Souk el Khemis, eastwards to Bab Aylen and southwards to the northern fringes of the Agdal gardens.
Colours highlight main sites of interest, public buildings, shopping areas/markets and pedestrian zones. One-way streets are marked and symbols show a range of useful features eg. hotels, taxi ranks, car parks, information offices, petrol stations, public water fountains, places of worship, police stations, hospitals etc.

SO! - getting back to the Toubkal map itself - what it's like really?!
Well, first impressions are of a clear, uncluttered map with the contour lines at 20m intervals actually visible (unlike older maps on sale). Ridge lines are shaded on the S & SE aspects and forested / tree covered slopes covered with various shades of green.

Without picking too many holes in it initially, a lot of placenames are mis-spelt. E.g. Imlil is Imelil, Aroumd is Around, Neltner is Nelter, whilst the more difficult to spell like Ouanoukrim is perfect!

Whilst the contour lines are at 20m intervals, there is not a single cliff or gully (couloir) shown in the entire area! This is indeed a shame as e.g. the Tazaghart NE face above the Lepiney refuge is shown on the map as an uninterrupted steep slope which from purely looking at the map would present no particular problems in descent. See photo on left for the reality! This is repeated all over the map, the S face of Toukal, the N face of Angour.....

So a good map for trekking along clearly defined paths but don't stray off them too far!

UK purchases can be had from Stanfords in Covent Garden, London or on-line at this link. RRP £11.95