Tazka`s 1st Dome

The Tazka Domes At the end of the Tazka valley lie the two Tazka Domes – home to Tafraout’s highest concentration of good quality, low-grade bolted routes. There’s everything here from single-pitch top-ropes to fun multi- pitch climbs, all on solid granite and easily accessible from town, so it’s no wonder that these crags have made Tazga one of the most popular sport-climbing venues in the region. All three crags face southeast and get lots of sunshine. As a result, they are best avoided during periods of warm weather, although there is some shade available later on in the afternoons. The routes have been recently bolted, so the quality of protection and anchors is generally good, although details of who bolted many of these routes have not been forthcoming. In these cases, in order to avoid pages of ‘unnamed’ routes, names have been applied retrospectively – if you have any more information then please do get in touch so that we can amend future editions of this guide. There is a large parking area next to the last house on the Tazka road, right at the foot of Tazka Crag itself. Approaches from here are shown on the photo-topo below. ! CAUTION! – There are a large number of beehives around the end of the track below the 2nd Dome, and aggressive swarms of bees have been reported. Climbers are advised to keep a safe distance and avoid water butts which are put out for the bees to drink from. TAZKA’S FIRST DOME: The higher of the two domes is easily visible from car parking at the end of the road. The summit itself is a rather broad affair, but can only be reached via some fairly devious scrambling round the left-hand side; for climbers, a much better way is the very popular Montagny up the impressive East Buttress. Despite being merely 10 minutes from the road, routes here have a pleasantly remote feel to them and climbers will enjoy some excellent positions and fine views over Tazka and Tafraout.