Geography · Mountains · Scale Comparison
Four Peaks
Morocco's mountains in the context of the world. From the drought-sculpted Saghro to the summit of Everest — four peaks, four scales of ambition.
Jbel Toubkal rises 4,167 metres above sea level — the highest point in North Africa, the Atlas Mountains, and the Arab world. Sixty kilometres from Marrakech, visible on clear days. Jbel Saghro, in the Anti-Atlas, reaches 2,712m — lower but wilder, drier, volcanic. Put them next to Kilimanjaro (5,895m, highest in Africa, a freestanding giant with five climate zones) and Everest (8,849m, highest on Earth, where the summit is made of fossilised ocean floor) and you begin to understand what mountains mean at different scales. Toubkal is a weekend from Marrakech. Kilimanjaro is a week-long expedition. Everest is a two-month campaign that kills people. The chart below draws them to scale.
Elevation Profile — To Scale
All four peaks drawn to the same vertical scale. Hover for details. Triangle markers show basecamp altitude.
Comparative Data
Summit Elevation (metres)
Topographic Prominence (metres)
Basecamp Elevation (metres)
Trek Duration (days)
Annual Climbers (approx)
Success Rate (%)
Mountain Profiles — Click to expand
Reading Notes
The Weekend Mountain
Toubkal is 60km from Marrakech. You can leave a riad at dawn, reach Imlil by mid-morning, sleep at the refuge (3,207m), summit the next day, and be back in the medina for dinner. No other 4,000m peak on earth sits this close to a major tourist city. That accessibility is its gift and its curse — 30,000 people summit annually, and the scree slopes show it.
The Forgotten Range
Saghro gets 2,000 trekkers a year. Toubkal gets 30,000. Kilimanjaro gets 40,000. Yet Saghro offers something none of the others can: volcanic lunar landscapes, Aït Atta nomads, 100mm of annual rainfall, and not a single soul on the trail for days. It is lower (2,712m) but wilder. The mountain that rewards those who chose difficulty over altitude.
The Scale of Things
Toubkal's summit is below Everest's basecamp. That single fact reframes everything. The highest point in North Africa — 4,167m of volcanic rock, snow, and alpine meadow — would not even qualify as a staging post for the Himalayas. Kilimanjaro sits between them: higher than Toubkal by 1,728m, lower than Everest by 2,954m. Africa's tallest mountain is two-thirds of the way to the roof of the world. Morocco's is less than half.
The summit of Toubkal is crowned with a metal pyramid. The summit of Everest is crowned with the fossilised floor of an ocean that no longer exists. Between them: 4,682 metres of altitude, 7,000 kilometres of distance, and the entire difference between a weekend and a lifetime. What they share is simpler. Both are made of stone. Both were pushed up from below. Both will outlast everyone who stands on them.
Sources
Jbel Toubkal (4,167m): Wikipedia; Britannica; Grokipedia; Adventure Alternative; Cicerone Press. First ascent 1923: Wikipedia. Toubkal National Park (380 km²): Grokipedia. Jbel Saghro (2,712m Amalou n'Mansour): Wikipedia; Lonely Planet; MoroccoGoNow; Experience Morocco. Saghro rainfall (100mm/yr south, 300mm summits): Wikipedia. Aït Atta tribe: Wikipedia “Jbel Saghro.” Kilimanjaro (5,895m): Wikipedia; general mountaineering sources. Five climate zones, glacier retreat predictions: widely reported. Everest (8,849m): Survey of Nepal / China 2020 agreed height. First ascent 1953: Hillary and Norgay. Death zone, fatality statistics: Himalayan Database; widely reported. Summit fossils (Tethys Sea): geological consensus. Annual climber estimates are editorial approximations from multiple trekking sources. Prominence figures from peakbagger.com conventions.
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