This is the top. The Tizi n Test pass stands at about 2,092 metres, and the saddle feels like a threshold in the most literal sense: on the north side the road has climbed in long, looping stretches through the High Atlas, and on the south the land opens toward the Souss valley, drier, hotter and wider.
Few Moroccan roads have as much reputation among riders. The French built it in the 1920s and early 1930s to link Marrakesh with the Souss plain, and its engineering is a mix of ambition and caution: a narrow ribbon of tarmac, hairpins that seem stacked like pages, and long drops on the outer edge where there is often no barrier. It is not a road for hurrying. Plan for steady speed, wide lines and the discipline to leave oncoming trucks and buses their half of every bend. Fog can drift in without warning, and winter closures from snow and ice are not rare.
Not far from the north side of the pass stands the Tin Mal mosque, an Almohad building of the twelfth century, set in a quiet valley. It was the spiritual centre of the movement that went on to rule much of North Africa and Spain, and its restored walls and arches give a hint of how powerful the dynasty once was. It is a short detour that rewards riders who have time.
On the southern descent the landscape opens and the colours shift from cedar and green to the pale ochre of argan country. The argan tree, found in this part of Morocco, produces the oil that is sold in cooperatives along the route. Goats sometimes climb in its branches, a sight so unlikely that most visitors refuse to believe it until they see it.
The café at the top serves strong coffee and tea, and the view south is long, hazy and warm. If you are crossing in the cooler months, put on a layer before you stop: the wind at the saddle has an edge that the lower valleys lack.