Le berbere et la gazelle, new extreme route
opened in Morocco by the trio Pedeferri, Vago & Bugada
Three friends, a trip, a mountaineering project put into practice.
The realisation of a dream. The account of a beautiful adventure
in the Todra canyon, seen through the eyes of Marco Vago with
the introduction of Vinicio Stefanello.
Oscar Durbiano
Free around the world
In March, in the Todra Canyon (Morocco), the first tour of the
“Ragni di Lecco” ended, this project aims to travel
through routes, freeing them around the rock faces of the world.
After this first experience “free around the world”,
Cesare Bugada, Simone Pedeferri and Marco Vago returned home with
“Le berbere et la gazelle” a new route of 200metres
on the great wall of Poisson Sacret, a rock face which is 200
metres high (and 500m wide) which can be found a few kilometres
from the entrance to the canyon and which has another six routes.
"Le Berbere", consists of seven pitches with maximum
difficulties of 7c+ (7a obl.) which the three ‘Spiders’
opened from the ground up using a drill. The 23rd March, while
Cesare Bugada, also known as 'Cece' had to go back home as he
had run out of time, Simone Pedeferri and Marco Vago complete
the job, free climbing the route. Adding to these feats other
explorations were undertaken, even on the crags of other rock
faces living other experiences, as well as encounters that make
up the spice of this project, as written by Marco Vago in his
report on ragnilecco.com.
It is often said (amongst climbers) that this passion is worth
a lot more than the athletic gesture and the “physical”
experience. It is said that “Climbing gives a lot more”
it is often repeated over and over again that climbing does not
only consist of a “difficulty”. It is many other things:
it is travelling, spending time together, looking for important
experiences. This is what makes up the “Spider’s”
project: a great journey ranging from climbing to life...and a
climbing life.
Vinicio Stefanello
Mission Morocco
Africa is the ideal destination for light weight mountaineering
expeditions with the aim to climb. At least one avoids the uncertainty
of bad weather, and for those who have no more than two weeks
available it means you have the certainty to at least attempt
your project. In our case, due to the sudden decision to leave
and the various organisational difficulties, my decision together
with Simone’s and Cece’s (Cesare Bugada) was to go
to the Todra Canyon in Morocco, a very well known area amongst
climbers which has been frequented over the past few decades,
but also frequented by regular tourists. Information sent to us
by some friends who had already been there told us that there
were still some good possibilities to open new routes. In fact,
once we had reached the area, we ascertained that almost all the
existing multi-pitch routes on the rock face outside the canyon
follow very logical lines along the great cracks and dihedrals
which cut through the rock, leaving the wide overhanging walls
completely free, which covered in pockets and tiny runnels typical
of the best limestone in this area, make it ideal terrain for
equipping new routes in modern style, in other words strictly
from the ground up using a battery powered drill to put in 10
mm bolts where the rock does not allow for the use of traditional
protection such as nuts, friends and pegs...
After a day spent on reconnaissance our choice fell on the rock
face of Poisson Sacret, a wall which is more than 200 metres high
and roughly 500 metres wide at about three kilometres from the
exit of the canyon, on which there are already eight routes.
Our new route, which sets off on an overhanging wall with pockets,
took us three days to equip with a very dry and ventilated climate,
typical of the desert, which allowed us to work even during the
hottest hours of the day, while in the later afternoon, after
3 pm, when the rock face was finally in the shade, a warm fleece
was worn.
Equipping a new route is certainly not like climbing a route during
a normal repetition: the rock is still virgin and therefore friable
and dirty in different sections, the presence of unstable blocks
which will be consequently moved, the unknown factor in terms
of what will be found or not on the successive section from the
last protection, the long instants of physical and pyschological
tension while the drill perforated the rock, most probably even
far away from the last protection, this makes this activity very
disconnected, alternating long periods of work hanging on your
harness with short but intense moments of difficult climbing.
Once the route has ended, the body needs not only some decent
rest, but also rehabilitation to find the physical and motor ability
typical for a more flowing kind of climbing, which will then be
needed to free climb the new itinerary. To achieve this we decided
to dedicate a few days to the repetition of some already existing
routes in the canyon, amongst which a route on the Pilier du Couchant,
as well as climbing at the crags. After having met Mimoun, a twenty-eight
year old Moroccan climber who told us about some great crags near
his home, Simone and I (Cece went back home the previous day due
to work commitments) left for Amellago and the Gorges de Imitr,
a two and a half hour’s drive from Todra, on a good dirt
road.
Here we climbed for two days without sparing any energy, on wonderful
limestone crags made of tufas with long pitches up to 30 metres
in an environment which was much calmer and more relaxing than
what we had found at Todra, where the locals, even though very
hospitable, continue to harass tourists trying to sell their local
artisan products (carpets, bags, etc...) and inventing anything
just to do business.
Imitr is a small corner of paradise, where electricity has just
arrived in the last two months, where people harvest their fields
to be self-sufficient, eating only what the land offers them,
making their own home made bread (in fact no bakeries exist).
The crags offer numerous possibilities to equip and develop new
routes, something though that has only been done by a few French
and Spanish climbers in the last few years since the local climbers
in love with the sport do not have the necessary means. Our good
form seems to come back to us, especially for Simone who manages
to repeat the hardest route of the area, an 8b equipped in 2001
by François Auclair, which seems to only have one repetition
in 2003, or at least this is what Mimoun tells us, an expert of
the area and who in the last two days has put us up during these
two days in his little but hospitable gite d’ étape.
We are therefore ready to return to Todra and attempt the free
climb of our route. The following morning, after a good night’s
sleep, we rest some more preferring to wait till the afternoon
and consequently the shade to free climb the route: we are quite
confident that every equipped pitch can be climbed, but Simone
has reserves about the sixth pitch, equipped by him, which overcomes
a roof of about 5 metres which seems to be lacking holds, but
it is true that until you try a pitch you will never know what
it is really like. The time at our disposal is not much, about
four hours of light. We decide that whoever makes a mistake on
the pitch, either top roping or leading the pitch, will be abseiled
back down to the anchor, to undertake a new attempt. In this way
we will both be able to free climb the pitches, especially since
it is unthinkable that both of us can repeat free climbing the
entire route by leading the whole way, we would have to dedicate
two whole days to the route and we don’t have enough time:
our holiday has almost reached its conclusion and this is our
last possibility.
Truthfully speaking the first five pitches go by quickly without
any difficulties, alternating the lead. Once reached the sixth
pitch, the crucial one, Simone makes a mistake just at the exit
of the roof, but this means that the pitch can be freed, and this
is already positive.
My attempt stops at the same point, but after a while I manage
to find my solution for the movements required, but I understand
straight away that the difficulty is high enough and I don’t
know if I will have enough energy to make it through the second
attempt.
Simone sets off for his second attempt. With a series of four
consecutive moves he manages to pass the crux move and victoriously
reach the anchor. At this point I set off top rope, I reach the
base of the roof, and after an instant of de-contraction, I attempt
the key section without hesitating too much, it will go as it
must go, I say to myself, and with the solution which I had found
during the previous attempt, more aleatory than Simone’s
method but definitely less physical, I reach my partner at the
anchor who shakes my hand and compliments me. We are both extremely
happy with the result and the last pitch on difficulties which
are definitely easier, we move up quickly. The absurdity of this
ascent is that due to strong winds, we had to climb all the time
wearing a jacket, and if we tell people that this route is in
the Moroccan desert, who would believe us?
Briefly we throw the ropes to abseil down and as dusk arrives
we have already reached the car. We reach a few French friends
whom we got to know these days at Mimoun who are waiting for us
to celebrate with a good mint tea. We talked to them, as always,
about this experience, about our future projects and unfinished
business which await us. But these, we hope, will be other stories
to tell.
Marco Vago (Gruppo Ragni - Lecco Alpine Club)
Todra Canyon(Poisson Sacret) – Morocco
Le berbere et la gazelle
Route openers: Cesare Bugada, Simone
Pedeferri, Marco Vago (first free ascent on the day of 23/03/06
M. Vago, S. Pedeferri)
difficulty: 7c+ / 7a obbl.
length: 200m / 7 pitches (7b+, 7a+,
7a, 7a+, 7a/b, 7c+, 6b)
equipment: 9 quick-draws, 1 micro
friend, friends n° 0,50, 075, 2
descent: by abseil
