A guidebook to the region described in this article is available at

www.climb-tafraoute.com

Morocco Trip, October 2007

Even after three trips to the Anti Atlas, this place continues to enchant us with its culture, scenery, and stunning climbing. This time Katja and I went to Tafraoute with Niall Hedderley, Aeron Buchanan, and Leanne Common for a week of October sun-rock... once again, it didn't disappoint. Here are a few images from our trip...

 

Tafraoute from the hotel window

Opening the shutters on your first day in Tafraoute, the hot sun streams in to the bare hotel room... you know that an adventure is about to begin.

 

Katja on the first ascent of Campbell Road (Severe)

Annamer Crags have provided us with so much good cragging that we headed straight back there to pick off a few more of the obvious unclimbed buttresses. Even low-grade routes are brilliant experiences in a place like this.

 

Ksar Rock above Annamer Village

One of our first objectives of the trip was the unclimbed face of Ksar Rock, towering obove the quiet village of Annamer. We had put up several good routes on the South-West face in April, and were pleased to discover that the rock on the six pitches of East Buttress (Severe) was of the same impeccable quality.

 

Aeron Buchanan on Desert Man (HS 4a)

Katja and I made the first ascent of Desert Man back in April, and I snapped this photo of Aeron making the second ascent whilst exploring another new line higher on Ksar Rock. There are few rock types that offer such impressive-looking low grade routes as Anti-Atlas Quartzite.

 

Steve Broadbent on Fortune and Fame (E1 5b)

Like many routes on Ksar Rock, Fortune and Fame was one of those lines that you couldn't really spot from the ground, but just cry out to be climbed once you get up to them. The highlight of the route is a brilliantly exposed traverse on pitch 3 that leads to this welcome rest on the arete.

 

Aeron Buchanan on The Sunset Race Finish (VS)

This telephoto shot of Aeron high on Ksar Rock was taken from the car, where we were collecting water and head-torches to take up to the top of the rock... I think the route name says the rest!

 

Afantinzar - the valley of rock

The last rays of the day's sunshine highlight just how much rock there is in the beautiful Afantinzar Valley... much of it unclimbed.

 

 Niall Hedderley, watched by a local youth

Hafid spent much of one afternoon watching us climb the easy routes on Cinnamon Buttress. Not surprisingly he seemed more than happy soloing most of the climbs in a pair of cheap trainers.

 

Niall Hedderley on the sharp end

Niall opened Cinnamon Buttress with Apple Pie (Difficult), and I took this photo from a nearby scramble.

 

Locals people at Annamer

Later in the day Hafid took us down to the village where we all shared Cous-Cous from an enormous bowl. Despite the difficulty in communication the locals were incredibly generous, and seemed genuinely happy to share their time with us. Such encounters also provide the only means of establishing village, valley, and mountain names in a region that has not been mapped.

 

Niall Hedderley on Applie Pie (Difficult)

There's plenty to go at throughout the grade range, and the easy routes on Cinnamon Buttress provided us with plenty of fun for a couple of afternoons.

 

Harram Peak from Afantinzar

The 2200m summit of Harram Peak stands proudly at the end of the Afantinzar Valley. It was with this view, captured on his digital camera, that Sven first persuaded me to drive over the dusty passes to reach Afantinzar where we believe we put up the first route in the valley. Although the idea of climbing Harram had been discussed, we never found the time to explore it before.

 

Dawn over Harram Peak

We finally decided to attempt this mountain this October, and started the walk-in just after sunrise. A rare and powerful wind blew from the north, and clouds continued to build throughout the day. Fortunately they didn't cause us any problems other than cold, and we completed the 7 pitch Pharaoh's Buttress (HVS 5a) by lunch time. Thankfully Niall had hiked around the back to locate the descent, and arrived at the summit just before us, ready to guide us down! 

 

 The old village of Oumnsat, Ameln Valley

Deciding to have a break from Afantinzar we parked up in the centre of the 'new' Oumnsat village, and followed narrow tracks through the amazing old mud houses, verdant vegetation, and terraced hillsides to reach an unclimbed buttress of rock overlooking the Ameln Valley. We named the buttress Crag PD (after the nearby Crag P and the abundance of easy climbs).

 

Steve Broadbent figuring out The Story of the Blues (MVS 4b)

This was one of my favourite climbs on Crag PD, featuring good technical climbing on a wall that looked far, far harder than 4b. I tried to persuade Aeron to lead the 2nd ascent, but wisely he wouldn't believe the route went at such a lowly grade!

 

Aeron Buchanan belayed by Leanne Common

This is looking down the delightful Hamster Run (Difficult) on Crag PD under the heat of the Moroccan sun.

 

Steve Broadbent on Ciel (HVS 4c)

For me this was the obvious line of the crag, following a striking arete and short jamming crack through the high overlap. Unfortunately the presence of a spiky Euphorbia plant, a loose flake and a lack of protection combined to give the route quite a nasty sting... The moves through the overlap were fantastic though!

 

Aeron Buchanan, Coyote Crack (Severe)

Coyote Crack was one of the finest short routes of its grade that I'd ever encountered, and my only complaint was that it didn't go on for longer... or indeed forever! The brilliant lay-back crack was immaculately clean and furnished with good holds exaclty where you need them.

 

2000ft Unnamed Tower, Unnamed Valley

We first spied this staggering tower from about 20 miles away during an off-road recce in our trusty Land Cruiser, and when we arrived at its base this daunting wall was unclimbed. Coincidently, however, our new friends at the Amandiers Hotel were already working on finding descent routes, and several days later they made the first ascent of what is almost certainly the biggest wall in Morocco.

 

Shangri La?

As far as we know this incredible valley of endless sun-drenched rock had not been seen by Western climbers until this week. Our focus in Afantinzar meant leaving these crags to others though, and no doubt the new 'Livre d'Escalade' in the Amandiers Hotel will soon feature many climbs here.

 

First ascent of Samba (E2 5b)

Inspired by breathtaking mountains, walls and crags, surrounded by a wonderful culture, and reassured by the best rock on the planet it's impossible not to head off up aretes like this...

 

Katja Broadbent on The Oxford Story (VS 4b)

Just when you think you might have climbed all the best lines, you find a whole new buttress with superb routes like The Oxford Story... on the very last day when you don't have time to climb them all. No wonder we keep going back there...

 

Marrakech

The bustling square in Marrakech is a last taste of Morroco before the flight home, during which we try desperately to find reasons to climb anywhere else in the World.

 

Thanks to Niall Hedderley and Aeron Buchanan for some of the photos, and to Katja and Leanne for the company.

 

A guidebook to the region described in this article is available at

www.climb-tafraoute.com