How to get there:
First travel to the town Talmanrasset. This place is best reached by air from
the capital Alger. From Talmanrasset, one will need a sturdy 4WD, for example
a Toyota Landcruiser
in order to reach the end of the road that serves as a base
camp for this mountain. The travel time is about one day, since the last part
of this road is fairly rough. The base camp area is located at N23.275425. E005.550837,
elevation about 2250 meter.
The local logistics may be organized by Mouflon Tourisme, they provide good
and reliable service. (www.mouflon-tourisme.com).
Note that one does not need a Visa for this visit, only a travel authorization that
Mouflon can arrange before the trip.
Route description:
There are several options in order to reach the final south ridge of Tahat. The traditional route starts
out heading for a very distinct square rock visible at the horizon, quite a lot left of the peak whan viewed
from base camp. However, at least two other routes going more directly towards the base of the final
ridge, are possible. One may stay below, or climb above
a pretty distinct cliff band.
The final ridge is quite easy and one may easily follow various climbers trails. The final
stretch has some good sized boulders to navigate between and across.
Comments: Approach:
Our flight to Tamanraset was supposed to leave at 2300. It was severely delayed,
absolutely no information. We finally departed around 0030. Arriving shortly before
0300, Per and I looked forward to a quick 10 minute transfer to our hotel for much
needed sleep. This was not to be. In the airport, the local police insists on organizing
a police escort again do these 10 kilometer. However, they need to organize this and they do
nothing before we arrive. So at 0340 we are still waiting for an absolutely stupid
police car to show up.
We were met by Salah from Mouflone Tourisme, but obviously this did not help
with respect to a timely transfer to our hotel for much needed sleep.
The next day was planned as a sightseeing day. Tamanrasset is sort of an exotic place worth
seeing. Tne fact that much more (than planned) of the night had been spent travelling
made this even more important.
We stayed in hotel Caravanserail,
an iteresting place with good WIFI.
After a lazy morning, we visited the
large market. This market
has products also from
other parts of Africa, reflecting the historic
role of Tamanrasset as a center for old trading routes.
The day ended with a nice outdoor dinner
at a property belonging to Mouflon Tourisme.
Climb:
I climbed this mountain solo (no guide!), as my friend Per needed a rest day and
the route has no trail, good balance across and between many rocks of various sizes
are required. I headed out in the direction that was recommended. A big, square rock is
visible on the horizon ridge, surprisingly far left of the summit itself. Gradually, I changed
my direction of travel to aim for the ridge a bit right of that rock. I had started at 0630
with my head torch light. Daylight was coming
and the sunrise was
quite nice. Once on the
ridge, I turned uphill and followed various climbers tracks that got me to a flat area
very close to the summit.
Big rocks were obstructing a direct line of ascent here. I went more
left to circumvent the trouble. This was an easy detour
and soon I arrived at the summit.
The slightly lower east summit
was only a few steps away.
The time was 0815, so 1:45 up. It was quite windy, but otherwise a nice day.
I stayed about 30 minutes. The view
was spectacular. Leaving at 0845, the descent took about
1:25. I descended much closer to the peak itself. This route brought me down between the
rock pillar and the rock band below it in this picture.
The route crossed the light colored
stripe (see picture), then descended easily to more level ground.
