Climbing at Todra Gorge

Beta from my buddy on gunks.com

• Right side of canyon at its narrowest point (between Mansour and Yasmina).
• Visible from sport wall across from Mansour as the huge pillar in the middle of the wall.
• Right leaning gully/ramp (easy fifth class) to actual climbs.
• 6 pitch 5.10 starts 200 ft up the ramp at a bolt anchor.
• Second pitch is like Le Teton at the Gunks.
• Gear: TCU, wires, #1 Friend.
• There is a pitch with a wide crack supplemented by bolts. #3 Camalot is good here.
• The crack is similar to JTree crack.
• Continue up the right facing corner on the right side (down canyon) of the pillar.
• Descent: Walk off the back and down a canyon that leads to a road about 50 yards downhill from the Hotel Mansour.

When we got to the Gorge, the people at Hotel Mansour pointed this climb out to us. Everyone seems to pick this as a favorite. The view of the valley from the top is spectacular.

There are several other climbs on this section of the cliff. The folder at Hotel Mansour has several articles with topos of this climb.

We wanted to start out with the easiest climbs possible. We walked with a person from Hotel Mansour over to the river and across it, hopping from stone to stone.

The first climbs he showed us started in the water so we figured there must be a dryer season. As we walked downstream, there were more and more bolts and dryer land. (image of climb with bolts marked in green) He pointed us to a climb, and said 'You do not even need ropes for that one'. BINGO. We had a place to start.

Of course a climb that is too easy for ropes for the normal person, deserves our set of doubles and all of the gear one could possibly carry. Just in case.

The climb was actually really easy. I would say the move off of the ground was maybe a 5.7 (if you go by Gunks ratings - Swain's, not William's), but the rest was easier. (Lightner's book rates it a 5.10.) The climbing was similar to Magic Bus Wall and Cat in the Hat at Red Rocks. There were several climbs next to this climb that are also well bolted, but if you are lazy, you can lead the easy one and traverse/downclimb to another anchor to top rope another climb if your rope is long enough. Our 60' rope was barely enough for a single rope rappel from the easy climb we describe here (picture on the right).

We really enjoyed climbing here, though there was a slight disadvantage and that is visibility. We had someone come and talk to us for about an hour and a half in Spanish/English/Arabic and as soon as he left, the children came to 'give us gifts' (which you have to pay for. They take no money at first, then follow you and ask for money later. We were told not to encourage this). Then another guy came and asked if he could climb with us the next day. Bring an extra harness if you wish to take a local climbing. There is a lot of interest but no money.

There were two places in the Gorge that we went to: Yasmina and Mansour. There was another one next to Yasmina called Roches. If you wish to climb you should stay on one of these hotels and not in Tinghir. That is just our opinion.

The Yasmina is the fancier of the two; a little more commercial. It has a nice bathroom for most of the guests and some of the rooms have a private shower. Having the shower was a luxury, even if the water was not consistently warm. The phone number for the Yasmina might be phone - 212-44-834207 and fax - 212-44-833611

Yasmina is one of the few hotels outside of the US that we have been two that has a bed larger than a twin.

To get to the Yasmina, you drive a few minutes past the Hotel Mansour and it is on the right. You have to cross a stream (we had to by foot) to get to the hotel.

This hotel is the place where tour buses stop, so that is a disadvantage. Advantages include breakfast (bread) and a outdoor cafe for dinner which had nice atmosphere and the food is OK.

There is also a telephone (telebotique) on the patio so you can call home. The bartender (here is no alcohol, but the guy behind the bar) helped us with the country code. He spoke a small bit of English. Not many people here did. You need French, Berber, or Arabic.

We knew about the Hotel Mansour from a nice guy who helped us out with some climbing beta. He had stayed at the Mansour before and asked us to stop by and bring some gifts to Said (the owner) and his family. When we went over there in the morning, we met Said's brother. We were so heartbroken to find out that Said had passed away the month before.

Said's brother Larbi invited us for mint tea, so we sat for an hour or two with him and talked about everything. Some of Larbi's friends joined us and we had a nice morning together among friends. They brought out a notebook with plastic sleeves that contained articles from European magazines with topos for the climbs. After tea, one of the gentlemen brought us over to the cliffs to show us some of the climbs.

We returned in the evening to hang out with Larbi and friends and two other climbers from Belgium (Peter and Isme or Yasmine - we can not agree what we remember her name as!). I wish so much that we had asked for their email addresses! You can see their green tent on the roof of the hotel in the picture on the right.

The Mansour offers dormitory styled rooms, camping on the roof and no hot water. It is a great place to stay if you are used to camping or want to save your money (Yasmina is about $20/night)