18/08/2026
700 metres of rock. 150 new glue-ins. 800 metres of static rope. And a route that was almost lost.
Daniel Gebel first visited Madagascar in 2005. Twenty years later, he returned with Dörte Pietron to climb the legendary route Mora Mora in Tsaranoro.
However, it turned out that the bolts were heavily rusted, making a climb no longer safe. Instead of moving on, a different plan emerged: return the following year, restore the route and then free climb it.
Together with a small international team, around 120 kg of bolting equipment was transported to Madagascar. What followed were four days of travel, illness, thunderstorm warnings at the worst possible moment, a rope bridge between two summits and a descent down a 700-metre face.
Then the real work began.
In close consultation with the first ascenders and the few repetiteurs, bolt by bolt was replaced – always aiming to preserve the route’s character. Old bolts had to be removed and holes sealed as inconspicuously as possible. At the same time, the number of anchors was kept virtually constant. This was particularly challenging because the first ascenders had used ‘removable bolts’ in some places, a type no longer available today.
Only after the last bolt had been replaced and all material removed from the face was there time left for climbing.
And the effort paid off: Dörte managed to climb all the pitches on her first attempt, including the challenging crux. Spectacular water channels, long slabs and climbing up to 8b make Mora Mora one of the most impressive routes in the Tsaranoro.
But the real story doesn’t end with the free ascent.
A third of the routes in Tsaranoro are now unclimbable due to corroded bolts. Re-bolting brings no glory; it costs time, money and energy, but it is crucial to ensuring that the routes are preserved at all.
Who looks after the routes we are first ascending today, particularly in remote regions such as Madagascar?
Restoring routes is the unseen side of climbing. First ascents mean climbing, adventure, freedom and fame. Restoring routes is the opposite. And it will become increasingly important as the number of routes grows.
📸 Jan Novak
