Plage Mansour Gauche · Todra Gorge (Todgha) · Morocco
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
A long, moderate line above the Mansour palm grove at the upstream end of the gorge. Mostly steady 5c with a 6a crack to start and a harder, very abrasive finish. Big views up the valley.
The route
A seven-pitch bolted route up the wall immediately left of the gorge entrance, above the Mansour palm grove. The lower part is vertical and sustained, starting with a short traverse and a fine crack; it then follows a big diagonal fault rightwards over a series of steps, each ending in a steeper wall, and finishes with a short, airy and very abrasive pitch. Most of it is steady 5c to 6a with a few harder moves. Parties consistently describe the bolts as solid, though spacing opens out on the easier ground. The descent is by abseil down the route and needs care.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a | Good rock: a very short, well-protected traverse at the start, then a fine crack. Vertical and sustained. |
| P2 | 5c+ | Short pitch with one move noticeably harder than the rest; a slight bulge to finish. A 2018 party thought 6a. Linked with pitch 1 it gave them 55 m. |
| P3 | 5c+ | Continuous: never hard but sustained overall. |
| P4 | 5c | A slightly physical start, then even climbing. Stay left of the bolts on the slab. Long, ending in a steep wall on rough holds. |
| P5 | 5c | Varied climbing on a slightly chaotic line; pass a little to the right in the steepest part. Long. |
| P6 | 6a+ | A thin start on small edges, easier than it looks, then an easy exit. The Spanish text and a 2018 party give 6a to 6a+. |
| P7 | 6b | A sustained but well-protected start that can be aided (A0), then easier but very abrasive and exposed climbing to the top. Short. Graded 6a to 6a/b by other sources. |
Getting there
Base yourself at the mouth of the gorge near Tizgui, about 15 km from Tinghir. Marrakech is the nearest international airport, roughly 7 hours by road; buses (CTM, Supratours) run Marrakech to Tinghir, then take a taxi or shared taxi up to the gorge. One camptocamp party came by bus from Fès via Errachidia instead. You do not need a car once there: the sectors are a few minutes on foot from the gorge-entrance hotels (Hotel La Vallée, Hotel Mansour, the Secret Garden guesthouse run by Aventures Verticales). The two hotels inside the gorge itself are reported closed. For this sector there is a car park on the left at the gorge entrance, just before the first hotel.
A few minutes. Mansour Gauche is the wall immediately on the left at the gorge entrance, on the right bank of the river behind the hotel and the small shops under the olive trees. Either cross the river just after the last small shop (Jabouri's) and you are opposite the wall, or walk up the road into the gorge, cross the bridge and come straight back along the foot of the wall on the low wall of the irrigation channel. The start is among the single-pitch routes and is easy to miss: two parties lost time, one by starting up a 5c too far right when the route began higher and just to the left. It is route no. 5 of the sector in the local topo.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from Mountain Project area 112010562 (Mansour gauche)
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: 31.58413, -5.59164 (crag)
Getting down
Abseil the route. A February 2026 party made 6 abseils: the first two about 30 m, the others about 50 m. Do not skip belay 6 on the way down even though pitch 7 is short, or the ropes are very hard to pull. With 2×50 m ropes the only belay you can skip is belay 1 (2016 report). The abseils run slightly diagonally. Allow about 2 hours.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
Yes. Abseiling the route is the normal descent, so you can go down from any belay, but the abseils are known to be troublesome. They run slightly diagonally over extremely abrasive rock and bushes, ropes snag, and pulling them knocks stones off. You need two ropes.
Safety
Sun and weather
East facing, base about 1650 m. Morning and midday sun: in December a party was in the sun from 10:00 and in shade for the last abseils around 15:00, and Plage Mansour is described as sunny until about 14:00 to 15:00. Wind in the gorge is often cold but barely reaches the wall. Climbing time 2 to 4 hours depending on how much you link.
Sun on the wall · E-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
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 Todra Gorge (Todgha) are not available yet
What to carry
2×50 m ropes for the abseils. 13 quickdraws on the route page (12 on the sector page); take some extendable ones. Helmet, which the route page lists explicitly. A November 2024 party found a cam useful for morale from pitch 4 up, though they placed almost nothing.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
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 Tiwira.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
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Committing
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Read the cautions
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.