Atlas Mountains, Taghia, Jbel Tagoujimt N’ Tsouaint, Tamdoine. At the end of September the team of three Catalonians (Jordi Jambert Dorca, Moisés Llado Dorca, David Font Ventura) and one Mexican (me) drove from Girona, Spain, to Algeciras. Once there we crossed by ferry to Ceuta and passed the border into Morocco. Eventually we continued by dirt road to Zaouia Ahansal, where we left the truck and hired three donkeys to carry our gear two hours to the base camp of Taghia.

After studying the walls (there are so many) we decided to attempt the north wall of Jbel Tagoujimt N’ Tsouaiant, an 885m limestone cliff. First we studied all the routes opened already. We detected one virgin line, a beautiful long crack diagonaling to the left (our route runs on the left side of Barracuda’s line). The route start with an easy long traverse to the left by natural ledges with some vegetation. We reached the base of the wall behind a cave. After climbing the first three pitches and fixing ropes, we descended and built a Tyrolean traverse. It rained the next day. In two days of climbing we made three more pitches in amazing rock; all the protection was natural and we placed bolts only for the belays. Our second bivouac was in hammocks on top of pitch 7. In three more pitches of free climbing with good crack protection we found a good bivouac ledge.

We decided to leave all the weight on the ledge above pitch 10, and after reaching the top to rappel and sleep on the bivy ledge. On the fourth day we climbed the rest of the wall. In three more pitches plus easier ground, all four of us reached the top. Our new line is called Tamdoine, which means “Eagles” in the Berber language (774m, 17 pitches, VI 5.12b A1). During our last night on the wall we watched four eagles dancing on the air under the beautiful sunset and the different colors of the sky.

Luis Carlos García Ayala, Mexico