Djebel Ressas

Climbing crag

Ben Arous

In season

A rugged limestone massif about 30 km south of Tunis that is the other main climbing area near the capital. A few old, poorly equipped multi-pitch routes were joined in 2023 by 12 sport routes and 5 multi-pitch routes bolted on the south face.

Good to know

Point: Unnamed OpenStreetMap climbing node on the north flank of the massif (mapped 2018); the 2023 routes are on the south face, about 1 h walk from the village at its foot. Check a current topo before going
Summit: 795 m
Older routes: The 2012 Zaghouan topo mentions three older multi-pitch routes described on Djebel Ressas; they are reported as old, incomplete and poorly equipped
2023 south face: 12 sport routes and 5 multi-pitch routes, 5b to 7b+, mostly 6a to 6c, on a face about 200 m high, bolted by a French team with Tunisian climbers
Topo: A French-language guidebook published in 2022 lists 86 routes in 7 sectors

Climbing

Routes: 86 in the 2022 topo; 17 bolted on the south face in 2023
Grades: 5b to 7b+
Height: south face about 200 m, multi-pitch up to 4 pitches

ROCK: limestone
STYLE: sport, multi-pitch
APPROACH: about 1 h on foot to the south face

Getting there

36.6117N 10.3380E

DIRECTIONS

Sources

Photos: Habib M'henni (CC BY-SA 3.0)