Acclimatising for 4,000 m in Morocco

Why Moroccan 4,000 m peaks catch people out

Jbel Toubkal at 4,167 m and Ighil M'Goun at about 4,070 m are both walking routes. There is no technical barrier to stop an unprepared person from reaching altitude quickly, which is precisely the risk: you can arrive high before your body has caught up.

Altitude response is individual and only loosely related to fitness. Strong walkers get symptoms; steady ones often do not.

How the itineraries build it in

Height is gained gradually rather than in one jump, and the summit day comes after days of walking rather than at the start. On the six-day M'Goun trek the valley and pasture stages do the acclimatisation work before the ridge. On the nine-day combination, Toubkal normally comes first because it sets up the longer M'Goun section.

This is why we resist compressing these itineraries. The days you would cut are the days doing the acclimatising.

• M'Goun Summit Trek — six days
• Toubkal & M'Goun — how many days you need

What the guide is watching

Certified mountain guides monitor the group continuously at altitude and will slow the pace, change the plan or turn someone back. They do not ask permission to do it, and that is the correct arrangement.

Your job is to report honestly how you feel rather than pushing through quietly. Headache, nausea, unusual breathlessness at rest or losing coordination are all things to say out loud immediately, not at the next stop.

• What a mountain guide does on a trek

Sensible preparation

Arrive rested, hydrate properly from the first day, and walk at a pace at which you could hold a conversation. Alcohol the night before a summit day is a bad trade.

If you have a medical condition affected by altitude, or you are considering altitude medication, that is a conversation with your doctor before you travel — not something we can advise on.

Häufige Fragen

How likely am I to get altitude sickness?

Mild symptoms at these heights are common; serious altitude illness is much less so on itineraries that gain height gradually. We will not quote you a probability, because it varies by person and by trip.

Does a summit-day turnaround mean I lose the trip?

No. The summit is one day of a six- or nine-day journey. Turning back on the ridge does not undo the rest of the trek.

Should I take altitude medication?

Ask your own doctor. We are mountain guides, not medical practitioners, and we will not recommend or discourage medication.