UKC

Off to tafraoute for a climbing holiday in March (2 weeks) and was wondering which guide book people recommend?

I've got the oxford mountaineering club double volume guide. Ordered online . However the topo's are tiny and route descriptions are fairly shit (being generous)....was wondering if anyone had better luck with other books. Not feeling confident about route finding with this book

In reply to Kemics:

There are two. One by Steve Broadbent and the other by Paul Donnithorne and Emma Allsford. I've only used the latter and it's quite good but be prepared to have an adventurous trip. Many routes have only had one or few ascents so the descriptions and grades can be a little off. Not sure but I think the Steve Broadbent one is more geared towards the south of the area around Tafroute.

In reply to Kemics:

Recently went out with the other guide, but bought Steve Broadbent's two-volumer whilst there, as it also covered both the south side of the 'Kest and the granite. Whilst out there, had reason to email Steve with the odd query (not directly related to the guide) and I have to say, the guy was a bloody star.

I know a couple of people have had a pop at Steve for being a bit over-enthusiastic about his own routes, but that's human nature for you (on both sides of the accusation).

The Oxford guide did us and a couple of other climbers who borrowed it proud; I can't directly compare the guides, because we never did end up in the northern areas (which are all that the other guide covers). To me, both guides have been produced by enthusiastic small teams, to a high standard, with a lot of thought behind them, and that's something to be cherished in these increasingly commercial times.

I hope you have a good time, but if I were you I wouldn't bitch too much about the Broadbent guide whilst you're there: half the locals are personal friends of his, and feel that the guy has done much for the local economy.

Have a care with these kind of comments; it's somebody's hard work you're trampling on.

Martin

In reply to maisie:
I didn't mean to insult anyone I guess ive just been spoilt by some rockfax guides recently.

But to clarify, I didn't say the guide was bad! Just some route descriptions are pretty poor. As in 40 meters "climb the head wall" but i guess space was tight as it's such a prolific area.

In reply to Kemics:

I think there's a deliberate effort in the Anti-Atlas to preserve a bit of "adventure" rather than giving you move-by-move breakdowns of all the routes. Which makes sense given that a lot of the routes seem to basically pick the most sensible line up a big buttress rather than leaving you worrying that you might have strayed three inches to the left and got onto a different route. Also, as you say, it's a big area and giving blow-by-blow accounts of loads of 200m routes would result in a much bigger book or a lot of omissions.

And if you think the current crop are a bit minimal, check out the old Ciccerone guide - no written descriptions at all, just a little picture with a bunch of lines to show roughly where the routes go...

FWIW, we had a couple of each guide on our trip, and we got the most use out of the OAC one, even in the north. It's also a lot more usable if you're new to the area, thanks to the handy-dandy crag table at the beginning. The Steve Broadbent guide is good but the OAC one is exceptional, IMO.

In reply to Ramblin Dave and original poster:

". . . check out the old Cicerone guide - no written descriptions at all, just a little picture with a bunch of lines to show roughly where the routes go..."

And for me that's when the area was at it's best! Adventure all the way. Every ascent might as well have been a first.

". . . there's a deliberate effort in the Anti-Atlas to preserve a bit of "adventure" rather than giving you move-by-move breakdowns of all the routes."

Correct - if you don't want adventurous climbing this is not the place for you - here, adventure is the whole point, surely?

". . . The Steve Broadbent guide is good but the OAC one is exceptional, IMO"

Think this might be a slip of the keyboard? The Steve Broadbent guide IS the OAC guide.

I reckon all the current crop of guide books are very good indeed. The OAC (Steve Broadbent) pair cover the whole area and are the most recent. The Crack Addicts (Paul Donnithorne and Emma Alsford) guide is to the North Side; they have a free download update on-line for purchasers of the guide.

In reply to Kemics:



There are two thousand routes across the two volumes and understandably Steve has not been able to check them all! Even with friends helping with checking there are still going to be loads that have not even had second ascents and the route description will simply be what was written in the new route book at the Hotel Amandiers. If the FA description was breif then that's all there is to go on. Besides if there is a 40 metre head wall with only one recorded climb on it what more do you need?
I wouldn't worry it's impossible to go climbing there and not have a good time. Enjoy

Mark

In reply to Martin Bennett:





Slip of the brain. I meant that the Donnithorne / Alsford guide is good - as in, if it was the only option then you'd be pleased that the area had such a good guidebook - but the OAC / Broadbent one is great.