Having our planned trip to Wadi Rum in Jordan cancelled due to a crisis in the Middle East Pilar and I found ourselves back in the Moroccan Anti Atlas. This wasn't any hardship as we absolutely love the climbing in this part of Morocco.
Anti Atlas trad climbing isn't for everyone. The area was developed by British climbers in the 90's and is a mecca for British style trad climbing. The quartzite is a fantastic medium that just seems to give infinite lines of traditional routes in the low to mid grades that most weekend climbers will feel at home on.
Reasons people love the Anti-Atlas...
The environment. The landscape is a beautiful, peaceful semi-desert environment away from the noisy stress of western civilization. Climbing here is as much about the relaxed local culture, gorgeous landscapes, and wild ambiance as it is about the actual climbing. If the experience of climbing somewhere completely different and exotic and somewhere quiet and remote feeling appeals, then the Anti-Atlas is for you.
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| Such a wonderful setting to climb |
Loving Trad: Outside of the UK trad climbing tends to be something to get you to the top of a huge mountain or vast rock face. The idea of trad cragging for sake of it is rarely seen especially in Europe. Of course single pitch trad ca be found around the world though it is almost exclusively crack climbing on sheer splitter cracks. Not often are there wandering lines up blank faces that need good knowledge of gear placement and rope management. So, if you enjoy climbing heavily laden with cams, you take pride in your use of twin ropes, and you simply enjoy the challenge that trad climbing brings above and beyond the technical difficulty of the moves - then Tafraout is for you.
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| Fully racked up at Atkil Edge |
New route potential. It's rare that a climbing venue offers so much climbable rock without bolts. The quartzite seems to be climbable just about everywhere in the VS-E2 grade range. From 6m routes to 360m routes, its all there. The idea of questing off on a new untraveled adventure is really open to any competent team.
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| Descending from Ifran- climbable rock everywhere |
Stable Weather. Climbing in the mountains in winter without the worry of thunderstorms or even rain is something really awesome.
The Anti-Atlas is not for everyone though. Many climbers aren't impressed for the following reasons...
Lack of really hard stuff. Sport climbers who relish steep rock and love pulling hard won't find a huge amount to do in Tafraout.
Lack of sustained routes. Tafraout isn't a place to find big vertical sheets of rock. Places like the Picos, Verdon, Yosemite or Riglos that have vast rock faces are far more awe-inspiring than Tafraout. The fact is the multi-pitch routes in Tafraout can often be a bit rambly. Sections of great climbing can be interspersed with some very easy or vegetated terrain. Additionally, with so much climbable rock around, routes can sometimes feel escapable. If you are keen on having that big wall experience. Or love mind bending exposure on a hanging belay Tafraout might feel a bit tame.
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| Samazar Valley - Stunning |
Faff. Laden all this trad gear on these long walk-ins and long walk-offs some crags can feel like a real expedition. Sometimes however, despite your tiredness, you are left feeling you haven't done that much actual rock climbing.
Our trip started at the Zsar Rock guesthouse in the Anfantizar valley. This is in the hub of Anti Atlas climbing with perfect access to the great valleys like the Samazar. The guesthouse is basic but very comfortable if somewhat cold. The nights were actually freezing. The food there too is a little thin especially after a hard days cragging. However I would highly recommend the place for the hospitality and the location. Just take warm clothes and maybe some extra food to bolster the light breakfast supplied.
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 | | The morning view |
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 | | Dinner perhaps? |
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Tzar Rock itself is literally behind the guesthouse. A great single pitch cragging venue that can get unbearably hot. A perfect easy first day with some lovely off-width climbing.
The following routes were done in the area....
Sahara VS 4c
Morocco Coco VS 4c
King Pin HVS 5a
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 | | 2 minute walk to Zsar Rock |
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 | | First day routes |
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The White Dome. With a good hour walk-in this crag takes a bit of effort. Though the routes are only two pitches a convenient terrace to abseil from means a quick descent allowing at least two routes to be done in a day. We knocked out the two pitch Rock the Kasbar E1 5b, 55m. Graunchy wide crack climbing. And then Pilar lead the two pitch Captain Scarlet VS 4c, 50m.
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 | | Me battling way on R T Kasbar |
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 | Emerging
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 | | Pilar on Captain Scarlet |
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 | | The convenient Abseil off |
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Dragon Buttress is a fantastic easily accessible shady bit of rock in the middle of the awe-inspiring Samazar Valley. With the Samazar road now completely surfaced driving into this wonderful valley is a 20 minute bimble (previously it was a 1 hour bumpy dirt track). We took a whole day to climb
Glaedyr E1 5b, 180m. This line starts off adventurous with some wandering pitches through vegetated terrain. I took the last two which were wide and physical and the final being a runout (and mildly mossy) slab. Far from my belayer and with the call of the mosque ringing out, I found this pitch a lonely lead and highly memorable! Felt E2 to me.
The following day we had a mellow time on the West buttress Vs 4b, 165m on Safin. The third of three great looking towers this somewhat adventurous roue starts out typically Morocco with two pitches of wandering, and it has to be said, poor quality climbing. The top three pitches salvage the route however and provide some steep climbing in great positions. A cracking little route and an easy day.
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 | | Safin - A distant dower |
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 | | Me on the spectacular finish |
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Adrar Iffran is a crag we have been to multiple times over the years and this time we did Voyager E2 5b, 130m. Iffran has a short walk-in of about 35minutes and the routes on the west face are on perfect rock. The crag is let down by a section of easy slabs halfway up however, things improve dramatically near the top. Sadly there are no in-situ abseil points and climbers are forced to make the long walk off the southwest side of the buttress meaning bagging more than a single route is difficult. Voyager was awesome however. The final traverse is the money pitch and takes you through really fantastic positions. Pilar dropped a couple of cams whilst traversing these overhangs and the gear landed on the large slabby platforms halfway up. We knew we had to come back.
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 | The route finds a way through the overhangs
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 | | Some easier ground |
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 | | Traversing in wild positions |
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 | | Bridging to glory |
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We relocated to the sleepy town of Tafraout in the south for some warmth and the luxury's of coffee shops and decent meals. The place seems to be more accommodating every time we visit with more cafes and restaurants popping up. Being at a lower altitude and with the majority of the crags facing south it is warmer on this side of the massif and definitely best saved for the really cold winter months.
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| Relative luxury |
However we had to drive back round to Adrar Ifran to find our dropped cams. Climbing
Pinky and Perky HVS 5a, 130m we found the gear easily and enjoyed this fun little climb. Sadly the long walk off meant we weren't going to get another climb in.
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 | | Looking back at the large belay terrace |
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 | | Pilar Pitch 1 |
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We did the massive
Millennium Ridge HVD, 1500m a couple of days later. With 1500m of scrambling and climbing this route is more of an Alpine expedition than anything else. We walked in pre-dawn with headlamps following a dry river bed and, having scoped the approach the previous day, thought navigation would be straightforward. However under darkness we found ourselves way off route and had to traverse through some bushes to actually find the steep approach "path". Though having lost about 45minutes of time we weren't worried as Morocco had stable weather all day and we assumed we could get down the descent gulley even if night-time fell.
 | | The walk in |
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 | | Dawn scrambling |
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As the sun rose we set off scrambling in trainers. By sticking to the crest of the route the rock is great and at the perfect angle to enjoy the movement without too much walking. Things get a bit trickier after the first abseil is encountered and we decided to put our comfy rock-shoes on. We also roped up and moved together as it was a useful way to transport the rope given we encountered another two short abseils and even pitched a couple of trickier sections of climbing.
 | | Moving fast |
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 | | A short abseil |
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This was all great practice in switching between "moving together", pitching and abseiling.
 | | Great easy climbing terrain |
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 | | The whole ridge visible |
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 | | Some exposed downclimbing |
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 | | The ridge snaking off behind |
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Finally we topped out in a fantastic high plateaux. Getting down was more arduous than anticipated. It took a good hour to negotiate the terrain to get to the descent gulley. Descending this was long and very tiring and we were pleased to be doing it in daylight. A fantastic day out but very long by our standards and the slog back down really arduous. 11 hours car to car we were quite slow. But we really wanted to enjoy the experience and take a lot of photos of course.
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| Summit |
After knocking off Spacewalk HVS 5a, 240m ( a slightly rambling and a bit of an overrated route in my book) we headed to Oxbow Walls. Oxbow E1 5b, 30m is an exceptional steep crack climb that culminates in a really tough headwall. The crack is wide and a very large cams are needed. I found his a real battle as the route is so steep and sustained by Morocco standards.
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 | | Pilar final pitch of Spacewalk |
 | | The walk-in to Spacewalk |
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 | | Another wandering pitch on Spacewalk |
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The best single pitch I have led here. We had to set up another abseil station at the top as it seems here the locals find their way to the top and steal the gear on occasion. However Oxbow, a gem of a climb and definitely a crag to come back to.
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| Me entering the Off With |
The remaining three days were spent cragging. Arc Royal HVS and High Sierra HVS were really fun climbs in the granite bowl near Tafraout. Undoubtedly climbing on the granite is a different experience to the quartzite and the convenience and the beautiful scenery definitely make it worthwhile. These two partially bolted routes had their share of excitement with a pitches of extremely thin slab climbing. Really great.
A day on Atil Edge followed. This turned out to be a really amazing day at one of the most convenient single pitch venues in the Anti Atlas. We knocked of several routes.....
Wall Street E1 5b. Superb wall climbing in a great position.
Hall of Mirrors HVS 5a. Thuggy jamming at the top.
Cirque du Soleil VS 4c. Great route and lead by Pilar
Chasing Rainbows VS 5a Another quality line
Flashpump E1 5b. I have climbed many easier E2s. I found it desperate. Overhanging crack climbing!
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| Hitch-hiking locals helping us out with Almonds |
We finished messing around on Mama Mia Vs 4c. Mainly sport climbing this was a leisurely climb and we enjoyed savouring the beauty of the granite environment knowing we were heading back to the UK winter only hours later.
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| Bees on the walk in |
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| Pleasant slab cimbing |
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| A granite wonderland |
Once again the Moroccan Anti Atlas didn't disappoint. There is nowhere really quite like it. But then we haven't been to Wad Rum yet!
