Savandurga, South Face, Deepavali with Variation Finish

India, Deccan Plateau
Author: Samiran Kolhe. Climb Year: 2016. Publication Year: 2017.

Savandurga is situated 60km west of Bangalore, at 12°55'12.47"N, 77°17'35.39"E. It is among the largest monoliths in Asia, reaching an altitude of 1,226m.

The first successful ascent of the main south face was made over two days in October 1984 by Kanhai Datta, Charu Sharma, and Mandip Singh Soin. They reached the top on the day of the Deepavali (or Diwali) Hindu festival, and named the route Deepavali. Since then, a number of new routes and variants have been established on this large granite face, including by well-known visiting climbers such as Lionel Daudet and Doug Scott.

On December 30, TT Niranjan and I climbed Deepavali with a new variant. Most of the climbing up to pitch seven is thin to offwidth cracks, slabs, and open-book features. About 75m below the top we struggled to find the previously climbed line, and so decided to take up the challenge of finishing direct on a steep and exposed slab. Protection was scant, but TT led this pitch confidently. I then led an easy slab to the top, which we reached at 4 p.m., about 8.5 hours after starting. The 425m route had difficulties from 5a to 6b/6b+.

Earlier in the climb we tried a more direct variation called the Navrathri Variant. This is quite scary and hard, and I took an 8m fall before retreating. We think this pitch is probably 6c–7a. We climbed the route with a 60m rope and carried 28 cams.

Earlier, we had climbed three established trad routes up to 6b+/6c on the Banyan Tree Pillar, and also put up several one-pitch new routes on the fine granite on the southwest side of the Pandavpura Hills and in the Achalu area, near Ramanagara. We placed no bolts during the trip.

– Samiran Kolhe, India



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