There was a discussion on TripAdvisor of all places about the new piste driven from the north over Tizi n'Ait Imi. The Argentine contributor had driven over the Tizi and beyond in April 2016. I could clearly see the piste on satellite images and, like you, I was able to trace a good route from the south as far as El Mratibine. There was an unclear section to the west of the village where the only route seemed to be along the river bed but it seems from your report that this is ok.

I'm in Morocco at the moment but more snow is forecast for the end of this week. ;(

Tim,

Much of that new piste that goes along the valley of El Mrabitine doesn’t actually enter the “green” area visible on Google Earth. I’d also been sceptical about having to drive through somebody’s fields and gardens, but the new piste avoids all that. Instead it approaches the green valley at 31° 35.679'N 6° 18.139’W, then follows it’s edge westwards for 1,5 km, then continues further west following the riverbed indeed for about 1,5 km before beginning to ascend to Tizi n’Aït Imi. Much of it is visible on good earth.

It is true that the bit along the river bed was the least “constructed” - perhaps because a separate construction unit would be necessary to build the concrete bridge-dam road resistant to flood.

Our experience with the “riverbed” section was easy. The piste is obvious, well-beaten and goes in a straight line. The only crossing of the stream we had to do at 31° 35.643'N 6° 19.104'W was nothing to speak of. That was after a month of dry weather so perhaps different on a rainy day, but then you won’t venture into that area at all if it’s raining/snowing - definitely won’t be able to get that far on a wet muddy piste. One has to keep in mind that the valley of El Mrabitine is at around 2250m, and may well be buried under snow and ice for continuous periods in winter.

Peter

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https://famous-walker.dreamwidth.org - in Russian but with lots of photos

Just to give me a feel for this. I've got an Iveco 5 tonne 4x4. Is the pass wide enough and without overhangs? when you had to go back coudl you turn around or did you have to reverse several kms?

Mark,

The new section of the piste (more or less from Ameskar to Tizi n’Ait Imi, and probably all the way down to Tabant) should be wide enough to comfortably turn around. That includes the spot at the top of the Tizi where we had to U-turn.

There are narrow bits in the gorge near Amejgag, but that’s possible to bypass by taking the uphill-downhill piste running parallel, visible on google earth. But then I don’t think the gorge is too narrow for your vehicle.

Also, the section a couple of km before and after Ameskar is older piste, with various diversions. Some sections of it appear to have been recently washed out and bypassed (we could see where the actual piste deviated from what we’ve traced on google earth). The piste also goes through the village, but again I can’t recall too narrow places.

I’ve posted a similar account of this traverse on my livejournal page with photos, see link below in my signature.

Peter

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https://famous-walker.dreamwidth.org - in Russian but with lots of photos

Snow, as predicted. Not much but howling winds are making a bitter wind-chill to keep everything icy.
This is 6am in Imilchil (2200m) - an anagram of ‘Im chilli’.

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I live in a cold country but never been freezing like I did in the Atlas.

We did the piste one week ago. From Tabant it is as good you can imagine, whatever car can make it to the Ait Imi (we saw the smallest type of rental car coming down). In the other valley there are still some works going on.

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Cycling in Asia: Thailand to Turkey, Siberia and Central Asia