Petit Paradis – Todra Gorge, Morocco.
Rob Mirfin and Sarah Daniels
Everything is going to plan so far and there are even still a few ‘Quality Street’ leftover from Christmas. Twenty minutes and we are through passport control and off to pick up our luggage. I arrive at the conveyor belt to see the rest of our party looking smug and standing next to a selection of rucksacks, clipping sticks, dustbin bags etc. No sign of my rotting old pack yet, fingers crossed it’s probably still waiting in the mystery land behind those rubber flaps.
Tartan suitcase, surfboard, cuddly toy…
Hope eventually fades and I resign myself to the fact that it's not coming and that I’m going to have to start a scavenging campaign; no sleeping bag, tent, rope or climbing gear for a ten day sport climbing trip. Luckily I still have my rock boots as they seem to be one of the only bits of climbing gear that are still allowed in hand luggage and are not a danger to passengers, though I think my friends would beg to differ on that one.
We leave the relative tranquility of the airport to be instantly snapped up by a waiting taxi driver and whisked off into the chaos of downtown Marrakech. Vince is keen to get one of the grand taxis all the way to the Todra Gorge, but being a few days before New Year and Eid the drivers seem reluctant to undertake such a long journey (around seven hours each way in a taxi). We begin to tire of our tour of the backstreet culture and after getting caught up in an unpleasant taxi driver rivalry incident involving a lot of shouting, raised fists and a waving car jack, we scurry off to the bus station and get out of there.
After ten or so hours of numb buttocks and scary mountain hairpin bends we arrive in the Todra.
We get dropped off at the Yasmina Hotel and are greeted by two worryingly friendly hotel staff; they soon have us sitting down in a warm room with a bowl of soup. The next course comes in a flash immediately followed by desert, all a bit rushed. We find out why when the generator across the valley goes quiet and we are plunged into darkness. We are shown to some icy cold rooms on the roof with the words ‘climbers like to be close to the rocks’ so the next day we decided to move to the cheaper and warmer hotel down the road.
There are plenty of places to stay in the Todra, the Yasmina is the biggest hotel but it doesn’t get much sunlight - ideal for most of the year but can be very cold in winter. Being a skin-flint my preference would be the Mansour Hotel, It has a very relaxed atmosphere, is a bit warmer and is very cheap at around ₤3.50 per night including breakfast. It even has its own crag the 'Plage Mansour' about 1 minute walk away; routes are mainly in the 5 and 6 grades, though there are a few fingery 7s thrown in for good measure, the multi pitch routes here are excellent. Further into the gorge, next to the road, is sector Hollandais, where there is plenty of shade for those sweaty days. On the opposite side are the impressive sectors Pelier DuCouchant and the Murciana; long ‘Verdonesque’ style multi pitch routes around six to seven pitches long and a mixture of traditional and bolted climbing. For those looking for some hard 7’s and 8’s, sectors Demeuk and the appropriately named sector Gullich provide some impressive pitches. Demeuk is made up of grooves, walls and soaring arêtes, though the generator that has been put at the bottom is somewhat annoying - hopefully this will
soon disappear?
For those blessed with big biceps, sector Gullich is a big crag made up of tiered bulging walls and has around twenty or so routes most of them being very steep and very good between 6c and 8b+, there is also a lot of scope for new hard sport routes here for anyone keen enough to bring a bolting kit. From Secteur Demeuk the Gorge then opens out into the land that time forgot; large walls, the occasional palm tree and brown limestone boulders strewn as far as the eye can see. Sectors Elephant, Jardin d'hiver and the Mur De Scorpion dominate the valley and are well developed with good single pitch and multi pitch routes.
Back down to road level and a short walk reaches sector Chaos; a jumble of large boulders with some good routes - the most impressive being the overhanging arête 'Kiffi 7c+'. Just round the corner is the Petit Gorge, where there is something for everyone; around sixty good varied routes graded from 4 to 8a+.
The Todra Gorge is another one of those places that has huge expanses of unclimbed rock and the scope for future development is vast; at present it reminds me of what El Chorro was like ten or so years ago. The local guidebook is very good and even has a free update service courtesy of local guide and routes expert, Hassan Mouhajir, and his trusty biro.
How to get there
Recently, some of the budget airlines have started flying direct from the UK to Marrakech, which makes Morocco a much more affordable option. It is also possible to get there from southern Spain via rail, boat, bus and taxi and takes around 2 days, which makes for a good adventure. From Marrakech you can get a ‘grande’ taxi, public bus or hire a car taking anything between five and ten hours. The local town is called Tinghir (pr. tin-a-hir) which is useful to know when asking for taxis and buses. It is 14km from the gorge and has numerous cash-points, cafes and shops.
When to go
Being that bit further south than the usual winter sport climbing destinations of Europe and only a few hours from the Sahara means plenty of sunshine all year round. Good conditions between October and April.
What to take
Large luggage tags!!!
All your climbing gear as there aren’t any gear shops in the Gorge.
French phrase book
60m single rope or double ropes if you’re planning on doing lots of multi-pitch routes.
Spare cord and krabs for the occasional lower-off.
Cheese
Guidebooks
‘Le Petit Paradis - Todra Guidebook’ by Hassan Mouhajir available in the Gorge – just ask any local and they’ll try to sell you one. Also featured in "Exotic Rock: Travel Guide For Rock Climbers" by Sam Lightner.
Other things to do
Walks nearby and in the Atlas Mountains
Camel trips in the Sahara Desert
Bartering with locals for rugs, rocks, scarves and souvenirs.