Spain · Riglos & Agüero (Mallos)
Anorexia
The best-known route on the Mallo Colorado. Two steep, juggy panza pitches have a well-protected boulder move, giving a short taste of real Riglos steepness at a friendly grade.
5c4 pitches150 m
The Silk Road
Tazka, Second Dome · Tafraout (Anti-Atlas) · Morocco
Bail not documentedBolting confidence: medium
Bolted granite slabs to the top of a dome above the Tafraout valley, with a hand-traverse across a gully on pitch 3. Short, but a rest day from trad in an area that is otherwise almost all cams.
- Hardest pitch
- 5c
- Pitches
- 4
- Length
- 95 m
- Approach
- –
- Aspect
- S
- South-facing
- Rope
- 1×50 m
- walk-off
The route
Overview
A short bolted slab route to the top of the Second Dome at Tazka, just outside Tafraout. Two slab pitches up a pillar, then a move across a gully and a hand-traverse on big holds to a terrace, and a long easy slab to the summit. Camptocamp calls it one of the bolted (short) multipitches at Tafraout. It is a half-afternoon outing rather than a big day, with a walk-off.
The climbing
Pitch by pitch
5b5c5b5a
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5b | 18 m | Slab. |
| P2 | 5c | 17 m | Slab. Normally linked with pitch 1. |
| P3 | 5b | 20 m | Climb up a little, then cross the gully onto the left wall and hand-traverse to a terrace. A 2023 party thought this traverse, on big holds, was the real crux rather than the slab. |
| P4 | 5a | 40 m | Follow the slabs to the summit. The bolts are more spaced here, but the actual climbing moves are protected. |
Getting there
Approach
To the parking
Tafraout, in the Anti-Atlas. Visiting parties typically fly to Agadir and hire a car; the mountain roads are narrow and winding. Tazka is immediately outside the town. Hotel les Amandiers in Tafraout is the usual climbers' base and holds the new-routes book. Parking for the dome is shown in the printed guidebook; no source read here describes it.
On foot
Camptocamp only says the approach is obvious by sight from the parking and refers you to the printed topo. No time is given.
Map of the walk-in
- Crag
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from camptocamp waypoint 1077033
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Contains the route point. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 29.69689, -8.99288 (crag)
Getting down
Descent
Walk off, described as obvious, via the col between the First and Second Domes. No time given.
Retreat
Bailing off the route
Bail not documented
Retreat is not documented. Camptocamp describes a walk-off from the summit and says nothing about how the belays are rigged or whether anyone has abseiled the route. It is short (95 m), so a retreat is unlikely to be a big undertaking, but that is a guess from the size, not something a source states.
- Retreat from
- Not known. For orientation: belays 1 and 2 are 18 m and 35 m up plain slab, so a 50 m single rope would not reach the ground from belay 2 in one abseil. Pitch 3 crosses a gully and hand-traverses to a terrace, which would make abseiling from above it awkward (inference).
- Point of no return
- None is documented. Once on the terrace after pitch 3, only a 40 m 5a slab remains to the summit and the walk-off (inference that up is simpler from there).
- Carry
- Not known. Carry a couple of maillons and some cord in case the belays are plain bolts.
- Basis
- Inferred from the route factsThe camptocamp route page and one 2023 report give pitch lengths and a walk-off only; belay hardware and retreat are not mentioned anywhere, so the notes above are inference from the pitch layout.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Hazards
- The last pitch (40 m, 5a) has spaced bolts.
- A 2023 party found the rock occasionally a little friable under the feet and a few flakes to check in the upper part, though compact overall.
Sun and weather
Conditions
South facing granite at about 1400 m per camptocamp's waypoint. A 2023 party climbed it in February between showers. No source gives drying or shade details.
Usual season · Jan to Apr, Oct to Dec
JFMAMJJASOND
Sun on the wall · S-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
- January (usual season): not yet worked out
- February (usual season): not yet worked out
- March (usual season): not yet worked out
- April (usual season): not yet worked out
- May: not yet worked out
- June: not yet worked out
- July: not yet worked out
- August: not yet worked out
- September: not yet worked out
- October (usual season): not yet worked out
- November (usual season): not yet worked out
- December (usual season): not yet worked out
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Moroccan time), for the 15th of each month.
Climate figures for Tafraout (Anti-Atlas) are not available yet
What to carry
Gear
10 quickdraws (camptocamp). The longest pitch is 40 m and the descent is on foot, so a single 50 m rope covers it; no source states a rope length.
Checklist
- Quickdraws
- 10
- Rope
- 1×50 m (walk-off)
- Helmet
- One each
- Maillons or spare karabiners
- To leave behind if you retreat
- Cord
- Mentioned for retreat
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to The Silk Road.
Worth knowing
Tips
- Link pitches 1 and 2 (35 m together); the 2023 party climbed the route in three pitches.
- Good first-day or travel-day route: the 2023 party did it in part of an afternoon after driving from the airport.
Open questions
Where sources disagree
- Effectively single-source: only camptocamp (route page plus one 2023 trip report) describes the route. UKC's Tazka page and theCrag could not be read, and the climb-tafraout new-routes page does not list it.
- Camptocamp gives four pitches; the one logged party climbed it as three by linking the first two.
- The 2023 party felt the crux was the pitch 3 traverse, not the 5c slab, but kept the original grades.
Provenance
Sources
- Camptocamp – Tazka second dome: The Silk RoadUsed for: pitches, gear, descent, history
- Camptocamp – trip report, 26 Feb 2023Used for: rock and bolt condition, three-pitch ascent, crux opinion
- Yorkshire Ramblers' Club – Tafraout meet report, March 2020Used for: travel via Agadir, Hotel les Amandiers, bolted dome routes close to town
- Climb Tafraout – new routesUsed for: checked for the route (not listed); new-routes book at Hotel les Amandiers
Around 5c · about 4 pitches
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Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.