UKC

Hi all.

Im heading to Morocco in Nov for two weeks for the first time predominately looking to go trad climbing. Having read lots of info I would be grateful for advice on ropes and gear.

Currently Im looking at taking a 60m single rope, a UK trad rack with double medium cams, lots of slings, Im not bothering taking any small gear. Does that work or do I need a rethink?, the plan is to multi pitch trad climb upto HVS.

In reply to jon59:

If you are going to the Anti-Atlas the climbing is very "British" in style and some crags have abseil descents. I would strongly advise double ropes (unless you are North American or otherwise used to mitigating for a single!).

And definitely take a full trad rack including plenty of wires. Basically treat it like British trad and you won't go too far wrong.

In reply to jon59:

Presuming you're going to the Anti-Atlas double ropes are almost essential, 60m ropes ideal, but I've always taken double 50m ropes as that's what I've got and it's never been an issue.

Rack wise, medium to large cams (up to size 3) and nuts, although still take some small stuff, cams do work very well.

In reply to jon59:

We used a pair of 60m triples (for redundancy), double rack cams, one set wires, one set offsets, one set torque nuts, last time in Tafraout. Plus usual tat/abseil gear (we managed to avoid leaving any litter, but may be needed some places).

Quite a few roof/traverse features that would be a PITA on single rope, definitely recommend doubles.

Don't normally use hexes in the UK, but placed several 'thank god' hexes last time! They also make good snake deterrent janglers for the walk in/outs.
 

In reply to jon59:

Just to reinforce what Robert, Steve and Midgen have all said - go for a full UK Trad rack (think Gogarth Main Cliff). Looking back through blog posts from a couple of weeks there, I've noted a few instances of 50+m pitches so I'd recommend a pair of 60s if you have them. Some beta and (hopefully) a bit of inspiration here: https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/morocco/

Have a great time! Cheers, Dom 

In reply to jon59:

Racks are very personal, but ideal IMO:

60m half rope pair

Full set of cams, from black totem to no.4, with key sizes doubled (maybe 0.3, 0.5, 1).

Approx two sets of wires, inclusive of a few offsets.

14 draws (including a few 60cm sling draws)

4ish 120 slings

About 10m of tat and a knife and possibly a few bail biners or similar.

Steve Broadbent guide.

I'm sure many people take less, and some take more, but a big rack is an asset, especially if you have to bail unexpectedly and leave a sling or couple of wires, or if something gets stuck or dropped. No.4 is very useful for some routes, though we didn't carry one on every route and... maybe I didn't take one the second time?

Lots of north- and east-facing crags toward Ida Ougdanif and Afantinzar area, which are helpful if it's hot!

Astounding and beautiful place, with lovely and very welcoming people - enjoy!

In reply to midgen: I like the thought but snakes are pretty deaf and won’t be able to pick up the high pitched jingle jangle of hexes. 

In reply to jon59:

Definite yes on double 60s, lots of the route descriptions and abseils are predicated on you having them! 

Take small gear, after all it doesn't weigh very much, and it's of no use in your cupboard at home when you are on a big run out. 

Big cams are really useful, think camalot 3,4,5. I find the big Rocks, 11,12,13,14 suit the rock better than hexes.

Take lots of alpine draws, those 55m pitches are a bastards if you are short clipped; and they swallow vast amounts of gear.

Take some rope pieces for abs, the in situ gear is often missing. You often need 3 or 4 metres to get round the big boulders at the top of routes.

In reply to fredpilkington:

Well, I was curious...apparently they can hear, although primarily through vibrations through the ground. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snakes-can-hear-you-scream-new-r... , but jangling hexes are probably not useless in that regard.

Typically we throw rocks ahead of us as we're walking, but on the last day, last bit of the walkout, 100m from the car, we were knackered and had stopped talking or throwing rocks.....and of course then I almost step on a pretty big mountain viper. Cue the snake dance and colourful language echoing around the valley.

But back on useful kit :

https://www.mountain-equipment.com/products/glace-hooded-mens-top

Essential if you're on any south-facing walls. Some electrolyte tablets are a godsend too if you're out in the heat, makes a big difference being able to chug an electrolyte drink on a long day.

Definitely alpine draws, we'll be pretty much all alpine draws this year.

In reply to midgen:

That's interesting. Saw no sign of snakes in three weeks last Nov/Dec.

I would also say simply avoid climbing in the sun unless you are very used to it or a bit deranged. As far as I am aware I don't think we had it unusually hot. No need to run out of shady stuff.

In reply to Robert Durran:

We did stick to north facing crags most of the time, although some of them still catch sun part of the day, just wanted to do one of the routes on the southern side while we were there, last day we did Spacewalk (HVS 5a) which just about had enough nooks and crannies to wedge yourself in on belays and get some shade. It was 28C and definitely hard work, but I wouldn't avoid doing it again, provided you've got sensible clothes to keep the sun off (glacier shirt) and electrolytes. 

In reply to Robert Durran:

Only seen one snake in 5 x 2 week trips. That was scrambling off Rainbow Buttress this April. Distressingly close to my hands and face as it squirmed into a crevice. My mate had just passed it without noticing.
No idea what it was but it was short and fat ....

In reply to jon59:

Thanks for all the advice everyone, mucho appreciated.

In reply to jon59:

There's so much variety of climbing around Tafraout and the Anti-Atlas that pretty much anything will be fine, so don't worry too much

That said, I'd recommend double ropes (preferably 60m) if you have them, as some of the big quartzite routes are quite rambling, often involving quite long pitches. Some routes require abseil descents, and 60's can be handy.

As for gear - as others have said, it's like UK trad but heavy on the medium to large cams. I rarely use small wires at all. Take four or five slings for threads and anchors, and don't forget some ab tat and the odd maillon to replace anchors or to bail from. In-situ tat doesn't last long in the Saharan sunshine.

Finally... NEW guidebooks should be available in time for your trip if you don't have one yet...

https://www.climb-tafraout.com/tafraout-guidebooks.php