After flying from the United States to Spain and then traveling overland via overnight trains, an unreliable ferry, and a long, cramped bus ride, Aaron and I found ourselves deep in Morocco. To our jet-lagged minds the country seemed straight out of Hollywood with snake charmers and turban-clad hustlers winding down every market street. People constantly tried to sell us food, spices, shiny teapots, and silver jewelry, and everyone seemed to have a rug-making family member who guaranteed us the “best deal, not like shop, real cheap, best rugs.”
The Todra Gorge came into view as our final taxi ride brought us up from the plains into the High Atlas. Narrow canyon walls rose straight up for over 1000 feet; at the base of these walls sit a series of hotels, restaurants, and vendor stalls. To learn more about the history and development of the area we needed to find the local expert. Everyone we asked told us we were seeking Hassan Mouhajir.
Mouhajir is a small, compact man who exudes wisdom and positive energy. He dresses in a self-styled uniform consisting of a Mammut T-shirt and top-of-the-line mountaineering boots. Mouhajir told us that he was wearing the shirt when he was featured in a French magazine years ago, and now he always wore it so that people would recognize him. In addition to French, Arabic, and Berber, he spoke some broken English and Spanish. Though it was hard to communicate, he gave us plenty of Beta and knew every route in the area. Although we weren’t able to determine his age, stories we heard placed him anywhere from thirty-five to fifty-seven years old.
While Mouhajir’s presence was ubiquitous, he was hard to contact as he has no phone or email. We learned that the best way to reach him was to ask around on the street; within a couple hours he always found us. At first he would meet with us at our hotel for short periods every few days and would tell us a little about himself or the Todra Gorge, but eventually he invited us to his kasbah, a large traditional family house, for the real stories and a glass of mint tea.
We sat on his ornately patterned rugs and leaned against the thick mud and straw walls characteristic of the area’s older buildings. “I’ve been climbing for fourteen years. I was born in the mountains and had to watch the goats. They were great climbers and I would scramble around the rocks with them,” he said as he poured us tea.
Mouhajir told us that his family frequently visited the Todra Gorge and he became captivated by watching the European climbers gracefully moving up the vertical and overhanging walls. He expressed enough interest that an older French climber taught him the basics. Shortly after, Mouhajir met Ali, one of the few other serious Moroccan climbers, and they began climbing together; most of what Mouhajir knows he gleaned from Ali. His limited amount of gear keeps him clipping bolts, but when I asked him what trad gear he wanted most, he replied, “A drill and bolts.” Mouhajir has established four routes in the gorge so far and has many more lines in mind.
In addition to his work as a full-time climbing guide, Mouhajir is the author of the Gorge’s current guidebook, having learned how to make guidebooks by helping French climber Guy Albert pen the area’s first official guide. That book was filled with lavish paintings but short on information, and as it became dated Albert gave his blessing for Mouhajir to pen a new version.
Mouhajir’s guidebooks have their own unique charm. Each one is custom made and is available in each of the major languages that climbers speak. Once he discovers your language he photocopies one and then hand colors it. In comparison to the original it’s not a work of art, but it has an authentic feel and is constantly updated. This year alone Mouhajir has written up thirty new routes, and an Italian team was busy bolting a new multi-pitch route during our stay.