Climb Tafraout

An Overview of Tafraout Climbing

Welcome to a very special place... Morocco's Anti-Atlas mountains are a unique playground for the adventurous climber, where perfect weather, miles of sun-drenched orange quartzite, stunning scenery and an enchanting culture combine to create one of the world's most exciting destinations for winter sun-rock.

Sitting on the south side of Jebel el Kest and the Anti-Atlas range, Tafraout is now one of Morocco's most significant climbing destinations, with well over 2000 recorded routes spanning every grade and style you could imagine. 

The region is split into four main areas as follows:

1) Jebel Taskra - The Tizi N'Takoucht escarpment runs along the northeastern side of Jebel Taskra, providing a variety of crags that face north and east, and stay cool during periods of warmer weather. Only a handful of crags have been fully developed, and this region still has a very adventurous feel to it. Don't miss the long routes at Asseldrar, and the superb cragging at Tifghelt and Imrir. The escarpment is situated in the northern part of the Anti-Atlas, about an hour's drive from Tafraout. The Kasbah Tizourgane, near Asseldrar, therefore provides an ideal base for climbers wishing to explore these remote cliffs.

2) The North Side of Jebel el Kest - The vast Jebel el Kest massif can be considered in two main parts. The north side, including the incredible valleys of Samazar and Afantinzar, holds some of the region's best cragging and tends to be cool enough to climb from October to late April. It can be accessed from a base in Tafraoue, or the Kasbah Tizourgane near Idaougnidif. The region was developed from 2007, when a new road was opened through Afantinzar from Tanalt to Idaougnidif, providing access to a superb variety of almost roadside crags. There's a tremendous variety of climbing here, from long full-day adventures such as those on Aylim (The Great Rock), to roadside cragging, or delightful multi-pitch mountain routes. Don't miss Scimitar Ridge on Safinah, routes up the Great Rock of Samazar, Multi-pitch roadside adventures on the Grand Wall of Lower Eagle Crag, Roadside cragging in the sunshine at Anammer and Ksar Rock, and the superb mountain crags of Adrar Umlil and Adrar Iffran.

3) The South Side of Jebel el Kest - On the south side of the massif is the mighty Ameln Valley, which sits just beneath Tafraout. The long escarpment running from Anergui in the west to the Tarakatine Pass in the east holds hundreds of climbs, including the sensational White Tower at Tifghalt, and Joe Brown's infamous Tizgut Crack. This was the original home of Tafraout adventure climbing, and about 150 routes here were described in the original Cicerone guidebook ,Climbing in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas, though this is now rather out of date. The crags here almost all face south, and with many of them being low down in the valley, this is a good choice for periods of cooler weather.

4) Tafraoute Granite -  The magical granite tors around Tafraout and Aguerd Oudad were, for many years, Tafraoute's most famous climbing ground, and since the early sixties they have remained a well-known, if rather esoteric, bouldering destination. Since the explosion of adventure-trad on Jebel el Kest, accompanied by widespread rumours about the poor quality of the rock, granite climbing seems to have gone out of fashion. Whilst there is some truth in those rumours - some areas of the granite are crumbly - the strangely shaped tors right on the edge of town actually provide some excellent climbing, both trad and sport, and the boulders are an excellent way to pass an afternoon or evening. See our granite pages for more information.

Some people have also had success with hitch-hiking, although this usually involves slightly extended walk-ins. Tazult, Assgaour, Oumnsat and Tifghalt are all accessble from the main Ameln valley road, so are feasible options for hitching. The new Tafraout Guide provides full information for climbers making use of public transport.

Whether or not you intend to hire a car or talk people into giving you lifts, don't leave Tafraout without our handy climbers' map (it has the taxi number on it in case you get stuck without a lift home!)

Equipment

There are no climbing equipment stockists in Tafraoute, so it's important to make sure you take everything you need - particularly consumables such as chalk or rappel tat.

For trad climbing on the quartzite a typical UK trad rack will suffice, but go heavy on the 120cm slings and camming devices, particularly in the mid to large sizes. There's not generally much need for tiny gear. 2 x 60m half ropes are perfect for everything on the quartzite, but of course you can get away with 50s or even a single if you must - it's a fairly forgiving place!

Don't forget that it's a Muslim country, so you'll be expected to cover up more than you might be used to in other sun-rock destinations... The vegetation is all prickly anyway, so long trousers and covered shoulders are no bad thing.

Remember to bring sun-block, a sun-hat and your camera.