Tafraout climbing

moving around in tafraout

Tafraout [pop. 5000] is a quite and small touristical town in the Anti-Atlas full of colourful adobe houses incredibly hanging on pink granite rocks. Heart of a vast region of oasis and almond trees valleys, remains an important commercial centre of this berber land. People's hospitality and curiousness (first you think they always want to sell you something, then you'll see that most of them just want to know about you) can only be compared with their trading natural instinct. There are many shops in town to provide with food and souvenirs and a weekly market (zouk) on wednesday, the smaller daily central zouk is also good enough. You'll find 2 gas stations, post office, banks, chemist's, a small hospital, internet access and 3 hammams (local baths).

Lodging
Hotel Les Amandiers (luxuriest choice in town, with swimming pool): 314-528 DH
Hotel Salama: 115-150 DH
Hotel Saint Antoine: (beside BMCE-Bank, no further information yet)
Hotel Ryad Tafraout: (still under construction in 2006)
Hotel Reddouane: 35-50 DH
Hotel Tanger: 25 DH
Camping Les 3 Palmiers: 10 DH-adults / 6 DH kids, 12-15 DH/tent, 20 DH/caravan-RV, 8 DH/shower, 50-100 DH/bungalow
Camping Tazka: cheaper prizes than the preavious

Eating
Restaurant Les Amandiers: 100-150 DH
Rest. Salama
Rest. Chez Sabir
Rest. Étoile du Sud: 80 DH/menu
Rest. Étoile d'Agadir: 50 DH
Rest. Agadir
Rest. Marrakech: 50 DH (good food, a little bit noisy)
Rest. Reddouane: 25-35 DH
Rest. Tanger: 25-35 DH (friendly ambiance, good food and remarkable upper terrace)
Bottled water: 5-6 DH/1,5 L bottle
Bread: 1-1,2 DH /piece

Moving around
Car rental at M. Touareg: 1200 DH/day (gas not included)
Bike rental at Au Coin des Nomades, M. Berbère and M. Touareg: 60-100 DH/day

Exchange/ATM
Banque Populaire: exchange
BMCE: exchange+ATM
M. Touareg: exchange

moving around in morocco

Car: Once you cross the herring-pond by ferry (calculate 300-360 € for 4 people+car) there are 1150 kms from Ceuta/Tanger to Tafraout. Except for the almost 450 kms tollway between Tanger and Settat (less than 150 DH, 84 DH from Larache if coming from Ceuta) roads in Morocco are not as good as we (europeans) would like to, so you'll better reserve an extra time to move around. Be patient and be prepared for some crazy driving, trucks and taxi drivers overtake no matter how hard it looks: moroccan roads always fit 3 vehicles, don't ask how!

Flights: Closest airports are Agadir and Marrakech. There are buses Agadir-Tafraout 4 times a day for 40 DH, expect a 4h drive...

Gas/petrol
Prizes we found in 2006 were between 7.58 DH and 7.65 DH per litre.

Guidebooks (some, there are tons more...)
Lonely Planet
The Rough Guide
Trotamundos (spanish)
Petit Fruté (french)

Money
Moroccan currency is the dirham (DH). Exchange rate was 10 DH = 1€ in 2006.

Best season
December to March, Xmas time offers fresh temperatures usually varying from 3º C at night to 20º C throughout the day. Avoid the unbearable months of summer, temperatures can reach 50º C without any difficulty.

Some more places to climb in Morocco (see map)

**** Todra Gorge: 1 pitch to 300 mts - the most classic limestone sport climbing spot in Morocco. You'll find more information about the routes, lodging, climbing guides, etc.

**** Taghia Gorge: the future! up to 800mts walls of perfect limestone in the middle of nowhere. Many multi-pitch routes have been opened ground up in the last years, both trad and sport, but with long, long runouts in some of them. You'll find excellent topos at Desnivel #247 (spanish).

** Amellago: limestone sport climbing in the small villages of Imiter, Aït Slimane and Oudidi.

* Oukaïmeden: sandstone bouldering in pine forests.

* Imi-n-Tanoute: drive South of this town and you'll find sandstone rock ridges on both sides of the road waiting to be opened in a windy and desolated ambiance.

Anything to say?

Do you know about other routes, crag names or routes names? Have you opened new routes? Did you find mistakes in this blog?...

If you want to collaborate and share your information, routes, photos or experiences with other people this is the place to do it!!

Leave your comment here or mail me at palanmartin@gmail.com if you like.

Enjoy the climbs!!!

About the routes...

There must be more than 70 routes at the present time. I have compiled all the routes I know, but I'm sure that there must be some more in this chaos of rocks and boulders. If you know about other routes, names of the routes/crags, whatever... or if you find mistakes in what I've written on this blog please leave your message in tafraoutclimbing.blogspot.com or mail me at palanmartin@gmail.com, I'll be glad adding new information.

The idea of this blog was to make a meeting point where climbers from all over the world could share their information and experiences about climbing in this magical place. Let's make it grow!

The fundamentalHeight: 10-100m (10-20m are the most common)
Gear: 60m rope and quickdraws, nuts and cams for cracks when specified
Bolting: bring many drills, the rock surface might be a bit loose sometimes but the core is really hard
Routes quality: *Recommended; *** Best you'll see!

Some bibliographyEscalar #12 (spanish climbing mag)
Desnivel #124 (another spanish climbing mag)
Grimper #67 (french climbing mag)

How to get to the climbing areas

A... -TAFRAOUT AREA-

1_ Tocho Tafraout is located north of town and is quite visible from it, faces south-east

B... -ADAY ROAD AREA-

Yelmo Carpantónico & Cancho del Perro, El Lanchar, Gran Diedro, Tochos Zoco & Basura and Davilofante are located along the northern side of the road and are mainly south facing. Cancho Bastardo and Cancho Rizo are located south of Ighir n'Targant, facing north:

2_ Yelmo Carpantónico & Cancho del Perro
3_ El Lanchar
4_ Gran Diedro
5_ Tochos Zoco & Basura
6_ Davilofante
7_ Cancho Bastardo
8_ Cancho Rizo

C... -TAZKA ROAD AREA-

Tazka's First and Second Domes are located at the very north end of the dirt road with 10-15 min approaching walks, facing south to south-east the First Dome and south to north-east the Second Dome. Tazka's Palm Grove is located at the very south end of the dirt road with a 10 min walk approach, facing south. Tocho El Regalito and Tocho El Regalito's Slab are two rocks located on the south side of Tazka, facing south-east and south respectively, be polite and don't cross through the local kitchen gardens. Prisa Mata, Tocho de Tazka and Flor de Luna are located on top of the southern hills of Tazka, sharing all northern exposure and 10-15 minutes of exhausting hiking

D... -AGUERD OUDAD ROAD-

Ibrahim's Sector is located on the west side of the road once you pass the last houses, facing east to north-east. Imyane is located on the east side of the road, facing west to south-west. To get to the Black Wall, Transaharania, Black Wall's Valley and Lovers' Crack you must turn right at the characteristic '4 Palms' located 1,9 kms south of Tafraout's biggest gas station and follow the dirt road for 100-200 meters. Hike up west to reach a hidden valley and you'll find the first three areas, the Black Wall is visible from the road and is mainly north facing (10 min), Transaharania faces west (10 min) and Black Wall's Valley south-east (20 min). Lovers' Crack approach is evident and short, facing south to south-east. Elephant Rock is on the east side of the road, needs 10-15 min of hiking depending of the face and has routes on most of its faces. Heyt Mharres is on the east side of Aguerd Oudad, facing south:

17_ Ibrahim Sector
18_ Imyane
19_ Black Wall's Valley
20_ Black Wall
21_ Transaharania
22_ Lovers' Crack
23_ Elephant Rock
24_ Heyt Mharres

E... -PAINTED ROCKS AREA-

3 ways of reaching the Painted Rocks:

a) turning left at the 'Painted Rocks Jct' located 5.2 kms west of Camping Les Trois Palmiers on Aday Road, once you pass Afela Ouaday and then following the dirt road;

b) turning right 7.0 kms south of Tafraout's biggest gas station on Aguerd Oudad road and following then the dirt road;

c) turn right 2.3 kms south of Tafraout's biggest gas station and get into Aguerd Oudad, follow the main street til the end where you are forced to turn right, turn left again and pass between two rocks, the street then turns left, after 50m turn right, pass the cattle fence (lock again if you find it closed) and follow the dirt road until you reach the Painted Rocks, this is the shortest of all without any doubt and the most recommendable.

Tammayurt Arete is located on the east side of the dirt road if coming from Aguerd Oudad, needs a 5 min hike up and faces south. Amalu Wall is the biggest rock located at the very north-eastern end of the plain that spreads north of the main painted rocks, needs a 5 min walk and faces... NORTH!. The Blue and Black Painted Rocks are obvious: