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Morocco Guidebooks
International : Africa : Morocco : Taghia
Rock climbing in TaghiaBy Enrico MaioniINTRO GETTING THERE Base to reach our goal is Marrakesh, which is about a 4 hour flight from Italy. The city is located in the center-south of the country, about 150 km from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. We spend here our first afternoon in Africa, visiting the old city, the medina, enclosed within the walls, to the west of which arose the new city. We could not miss a visit to the labyrinthine souk (market) and the famous Djemaa el Fna Square, around which develops the old town and can be seen as the center of life (and absolutely characteristic) of Marrakesh. The next day, after loading luggage and material on the cross-country vehicles, we begin our journey to Zaouia Ahansal (there are about a dozen different ways to spell this - it is pronounced zaa-we-ah), last village accessible by motorized vehicles: the duration of this transfer is about 6 hours, the first two on the paved roads and the rest on dirt road, mainly through the desert. In Zaouia Ahansal are waiting for us some men with their mules, indispensable to carry the heavy baggage of ropes, bolts, climbing gear, food, clothing. After many hours in the Jeep we all are looking forward to being able to walk a bit and stretch our legs, and we move briskly toward Taghia, where we will stay in a hut for a dozen days. The valley of Zouîat Ahansal is the entrance door of the Circus of Taghia, where stands the homonymous small village of 400 inhabitants, located at 1.900 meters above sea level and accessible only on foot. Thanks to an intelligent network of irrigation canals, the spectacular and abundant water sources offer a relative prosperity to the residents. The village is surrounded by amazing walls and located in the heart of one of the most isolated regions of the Atlas, the great limestone plateau of Azilal, which is crossed by three major canyons: the n'Tazart Akka, Akka and n'Taghia Akka n'Tafrawt and presents some peaks that reach and exceed 3.000 m altitude. A short stroll from the village there are the canyons, whose walls vary in height from 300 to 900 meters. ROCK CLIMBING IN TAGHIAThe first routes in the area were opened in 1975 by a group of French including Bernard Domenech (one of the current top experts about Africa mountaineering) and Erik Dechamp.In the 80s and 90s, the area was frequented mainly by Spaniards, which opened a number of big wall, with stays in the wall even a week. Good quality routes were then opened by another group of French, led by Remi Thivel and Christian Ravier. These climbs are difficult and protected from few bolts, always on the walls between 400 and 600 m. The first modern routes are by the Spaniard Toni Arbones and, in May 2003, by the trio Michel Piola, Benoit Robert and Arnaud Petit. The latter have left Taghia real jewels for climbing, including some beautiful climbs. I like to remember "Les rivieres pourpres" - 600 m - max 7b +. In recent years many modern routes have been opened, fully equipped. The rock is a fantastic limestone very abrasive, which in a few days could consume even the toughest calluses. Despite this Taghia is unknown to almost all European mountaineers. For the topo of the Taghia's climbs there is a great guidebook: "Taghia Montagnes Berbères" by Christian Ravier (mail: cravier [at] club-internet.fr). Moreover, in the shelter (Gïte) Tawjdat, a big book contains handwritten sketches and reports of the most recent routes. OUR ROUTE Being the territory very vast and giving the walls a lot of possibilities to those who want to open a new route, we dedicated the first days in search of the mountain on which to draw the new route. Obviously the rock in this area is not lacking, but also the aesthetics, the time required to approach the wall and the beauty of the line of the ascent play an important role in a successful enterprise. After a careful search of the area, the choice fell on the south face of Mount Oujdad, which can be reached in less than two hours from the village. At this point it was necessary to find a base where setting up the camp, because to reach every day the base of the wall from the village would have resulted in a waste of time and energy. After some research we found a cave that is well suited for the purpose: it is located a short distance from the start of the route and a stream provides us with the necessary water. The following days are dedicated to the new route. The main architects of the climb were Massimo Da Pozzo, Luigi Majoni, Federico Michielli and Bruno Sartorelli, but obviously all the others Squirrels have contributed to the success of the enterprise. The opening of the new route, which was dedicated to the Squirrel Luigi Ghedina "Bibi", took a week, and the result was excellent. The line is spread to the left of the route "Barracuda", with which it joins and has in common the last pitch. The rock is exceptional and the difficulty high. A short section of the 5th pitch was not climb "free", and the difficulty is hypothesized to 8a + / 8b. ROUTE P1: 6c 55m P2: 7A 45m P3: 7B/7b+ 35m P4: 7c 25m P5: 7C+/A1 30m P6: 6C+ 25M P7: 6C 40m P8: 7B 35m P9: 6B 40m P10: 6A 40m P11: 6b 50m (last pitch of "Barracuda") Download Topo PDF DESCENT Two options: 1 - Rappelling along the route 2 - Along the normal route of Mount Oujdad: to reach the top you have to climb the last four lengths of the route "Baraka" (IV - V + - + 6a - 6b). GEAR The climb is fully equipped with bolts. Trad gear can be helpful if you are going to ride the last part of the route "Baraka". CLIMBERS Marco Alberti - Massimo Da Pozzo - Paolo Da Pozzo - Stefano Dimai - Davide Gaspari -Simone Girardi - Enrico Maioni - Luigi Majoni - Samuele Majoni - Alessandro Menardi - Marcello Menardi Demai - Federico Michielli - Bruno Sartorelli - Monica Zardini - Ruggero Zardini ACCOMODATION In Taghia: Saïd Messaoudi Rifugio Gïte Tawjdat 00212 (0)68246536 Youssef Hmad Rezki La Maison de Taghia 00212 (0)23459608 / Fax:00212 (0)459608 In Zaouia Ahanesal: Ahmed Amahdar 00212 (0)23459393 / 00212 (0)78538882 Both Gites offer meals. It is recommended that you sterilise all water before drinking even the 'drinkable' water, severe stomach upsets are commonly reported by visiting climbers. We used a substantial amount of ciprofloxacin to keep our health problems at bay it may be worthwhile to stock up on this or other antibiotics. EXTERNAL LINKS Photo gallery on my site More information - www.lanochedelloro.com More information - www.remi-thivel.com GEOPOSITION Zaouia Ahansal: 31.832868, -6.1041283 Taghia: 31.7881417,-6.0746241 Mt. Oujdad: 31.781300, -6.086485 MP Taghia Album |
