Morocco - Todra Gorge Climbing trip 2014 Written by Ruth Bateman So I am going to let you into a little secret...I was really apprehensive about my climbing holiday that was fast looming, to Morroco. It had been one of those months in the lead up to embarking on the 8 days climbing, that quite frankly had let me in a state ofutter confusion and huge question marks on whether I could and should still go. But alas, the wonderful and ever optimistic Lesley repeatedly filled me with confidence that it would be fab and ironed out all my bombarding worries, so I really had no excuse. Saturday 25th Oct...within 3 hours I found myself in Africa...yes Africa, Morocco is indeed in Africa! Rather strange whenyou think it takes a longer journey to get from North Devon to London! It transpired that was the only one to book onto this particular course so I was on my tod, as they say! Not that this was a problem in any shape or form, it just meant more 1:1 time! whoopie! I was greeted and made to feel throughly welcome by the wonderful (and I will be singing their praises throughout this) Trevor and Desriee. After a hot first night and a rude awakening (I forgot the call to prayer malarkey! at 5am) we jumped aboard and began the long journey from Marrakech to the Todra Gorge. Through the Atlas mountains and out the other side, 8 hours later we had arrived, again made to feel utterly welcome and shown our rooms, which were more than adequate and quite a upgradefrom what I am used to (i.e tent!). Well the mint tea must be mentioned now...utter bliss, oh and the mandarines...I think I must have eaten and drunk my body weight five times over! And the food, being strict vegan pretty much, was really great, the staff at the hotel were after initially being quite perplexed at my diet, were extremely accommodating and by the endof the trip knew exactly what i would be munching on! So hats off to them! And now onto the important bit...the climbing...well I will tell you something, this place is a rock climbers mecca, a dream and despite not having been able to do much outdoor climbing prior to the trip, due to many factors...and not being able to get to my local wall much before hand either...I was a bit concerned I would struggle (I climb 6b/+ average, tickling the 6c+ 7a). Trevor was the messiah of rock climbing coaches, from the minute I got my keen limbs on the Moroccan rock, he was guiding, encouraging, coaching, making me laugh, informing, basically just being utterly awesome. Trevor knows his stuff, he broke down the fundamentals of climbing andcompletely revolutionised my preconceived ideas on the art of climbing...he helped me see the light, where I could improve, and he rekindled that desire, the pull of the rock so deeply within me, that both Desiree and Trevor had to put up with my stubborn nature and determination to climb with hands and feet tapped up to the hilt as my unaccustomed limestone fingers took a bruntof the sometimes quite nasty sharp rock! I dismissed any rest day, I just wanted to climb climb climb! Boy did we climb, we calculated that in 4.5 days we had cranked our way up some 40 routes including spectacular multi pitches and some fantastic ballsy routes, we covered a range of grades from 5+ to 7a, overhangs, slabs, bold climbs, to hand jammers...if it was there we found and conquered! I must also mention the utterly fantastic Desiree, who I instantly warmed to, full of brilliant advice, support and fun and laughs, these two together made the best teaching team I have so far encounterd. Everything about this holiday was brilliant, bar the brief spells of rain...and I will tell you something, I was gutted to leave, I had the best time ever, and Im not just saying that, everything was brilliant, the rock, the climbing, Trevor and Desiree, to Lesley who managed the bookings. I being quite small, was on the verge of stowing myself away in Trevors luggage so that I could go off to Thailand with them! Incidentally I am committing myself to at least three further climbing holidays in 2015 with Rock and Sun, because quite frankly I would not go else where, everything was beyond 5 stars and the company, staffand holiday smashed all my worries and preconceptions into pieces. So if you are toying with the idea of a holiday course or other service from these guys, take it from me, you would be utterly mad not to they simply are Gold dust, the creme da la creme. P.S I dont think i have laughed so much in my life as I did on this trip, as they say down in the south west, it was a right proper Job! Ruth Bateman © 2014 Microsoft Terms Privacy & cookies Developers English (United Kingdom)
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 04:23:51 +0000
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