Well, I am well and truly back from Morocco now, with a slight dusting of snow on the hills of Wales and a slight washing of rain in Llanberis.
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom here though and rock climbing has been happening!
But – Morocco.
Most areas have a grade range that they are most suited to. You wouldn’t go to Gogarth if you climbed VDiff and you wouldn’t go to Little Tryfan if you climbed E7. Tafroute’s range for maximum enjoyment is VS to E3 I would say. We did a few routes harder than that, but to go and pick the best lines on all the crags, that’s the sort of range I would recommend.
The Quartzite:
The mountain rock of Tafroute is a red Quartzite, very well featured, very clean, generally pretty solid and covered in holds and gear. It lends itself to trad climbing perfectly. The routes are way too physically easy to bother with sport climbing there.
The Granite:
Looks amazing and the boulders are superbly aesthetic. The bouldering itself is not World class, the rock is a little too crumbly for that, but if easy bouldering and general scrambling around in an amazing place is your cup of tea, the boulders are well worth a few exploratory rest days.
The Town:
Has ATM machines, restaurants, hotels, a petrol station, a bus servie, a post office etc.
We stayed at the quite nice Hotel Riad, but I wouldn’t really recommend it, better options are probably available.
We ate mostly in the Restaurant Marrakesh, which we thought was the best.
The Temperature in Jan/Feb:
It was cold at night and warm in the sun during the day. Down Jackets were needed for the evenings, long sleeve tops were needed sometimes for climbing, but not always. It was a very suitable temperature for climbing. We had three or four rainy days out of a two week trip.
How to get there:
Fly to Agadir. Hire a car. Drive 3 or 4 hours to Tafroute. You need a car when you get there so don’t take the bus.
Gear to take:
2 x 60m ropes. A normal UK trad rack. Some ab tat. A helmet. Sun cream. A bottle or two of spirits, we took Glenmorangie and Pastis, but you can make your own choice!
Links:
- Guidebook
- 2007 UKC Article (new one to follow soon)
PHOTOS: Bouldering
Sarah bouldering in the evening sun
Endless Granite Eggs in Tafroute
