Mahuli as know for the trekkers is a fort which was very important for Shivaji Maharaj, but for the climbers is a paradise which every climber sees as a heaven for all kind of climbs. The fort is surrounded by almost 30 to 35 discovered pinnacles. And some are still to be sighted. Some of them are sighted but not climbed till date. One of them was identified by the team for this year’s diwali project was “Hard Boulder”. The position of this pinnacle is on the extreme left of the fort when seen from the Asangoan, standing right besides Loose Boulder. This pinnacle was last climbed 15 years back as know from sources, so we have a more task in hand. Since the location of the pinnacle is on the extreme point of the fort the approach and the base camp has to be planned properly so that less efforts are made to achieve the task. We got down at Vasind a station before Asangaon from where we can go to the back side of Mahuli fort. Kathbav is the last village from where we start the trek to the pinnacle. We have to take the last water way which flows from the bunch of pinnacles like Vajra, Navra, Shankar and Hard Boulder. This water way though rocky we managed to find a good place for base camp on this water flow. Since the rains made a late exit this season we had good water supply at the base camp as after 15 days this water will be no longer available. All around in the Mahuli region there is scarcity of water; hence there are very few climber clubs who takes the challenge to climb pinnacles here. It is a real test of endurance and patience of a climber to come here and climb.
We made a right choice for the base camp as there was very less scope to put a base camp near the pinnacle as there was dense forest and loose rock and steep inclinations, but we had to trek for an hour to the pinnacle from there. In the evening we made an attempt to find the way up to the base of pinnacle, but then we realised that the route has to be opened as the rock falls and dense forest and erased all the possible routes. Ashok Sir led a team of 3 to start the next morning to open a route through the dense forest area up to the bottom of the pinnacle where we had to cross the ridge and go on the other side of the fort from where we had planned to climb the pinnacle. Initially we had some information of a team who claimed that they had climbed this pinnacle 15 years ago but on examining the features of the pinnacle its far difficult to climb from the face facing Vasind which had almost two good overhangs and a difficult chimney to climb, also some of the patch were purely a chain bolting track where the climb was impossible. We made a thorough study of that route. Even when we reached at the base of the pinnacle there was no trace of the start point which would prove the claim right. We then took the initially planned route which was facing Asangaon, exactly opposite to our base camp. We had to take a traverse from the valley below the loose boulder which took us to the exact bottom of the Hard Boulder. The approach to this pinnacle is far difficult since their position is very odd and no easy access available unlike some of the other pinnacle in Sahyadris. Gaja Bhau was very instrumental in opening the route to the base of the pinnacle. One of the golden asset of the club who has joined again after a break of almost 4 years. A jolly person who binds the team very well with his witty and funny punch line jokes and very well versed with Sahyadris, been a army man and hard core cyclist have a very good stamina. Members like him make the team really special.
When we zeroed in on the route which has to be climbed we noticed that the climb is majorly through open book creation of rock faces and at the top a chimney and from there a free climbing to the summit through scree. Sunil and Ashok Sir started the climb at around 2 since we took a good time to reach the actual base of the pinnacle. Sunil had to start safe as there was no trace of any climb before, so he took a safer approach. Ashok Sir was time and again guiding him on which way to proceed, he had to hit first bolt to make sure he proceeds further in the open book since there were loose rocks all over the pinnacle; he almost had a rock on his head while putting a anchor on a choke stone. Sunil took some very good moves on the 2nd cliff where he had to jam his knees to push his body inside to get the hold where he made the 2nd ledge. By that time at was 4 so we decided to close for the day since it would go dark to reach base camp. Once we thought of staying there itself as the base with what all water we had, but then our experienced Ashok Sir suggested that we better go to base, since we had nothing to eat we could get dehydrated and weak to climb the next day. And so we descended that day to the base camp. We had a diwali blast waiting at the base where Manoj and Raju made a wonderful dinner for the team. Also Prakash Sir with Family and Pallavi arrived at the base camp to give their presence for the program; they got some more stuff to eat. It was very good environment around in that dense jungle.
The next day we started very early to gain advantage of time, since we had to cover a lot of distance and had to pack up and leave for home. From the 3rd ledge it was about a 40 fts of chimney climbing. Sunil made the 3rd ledge there anchoring to a choke stone and a peg. But then he got a bolt to ensure safe anchoring till he reaches summit. The top end of the chimney was very narrow where sunil had to really shrink himself to get through. Finally the last 30 fts was through the scree which was difficult but sunil made it very easy and managed to reach the summit at around 11.30. All the valley was gloomed by the sound of success and achievement of our team. We then discovered that the pinnacle was never climbed as there was no sign which would prove the claim done by the people who met Ashok Sir. It was a blissful gift of nature to us that we happened to climb a virgin pinnacle. Every project when led by conscious efforts in right direction always gives success, our project was the best example led by Ashok Sir with his huge experience behind. Every minute details we planned while climbing this pinnacle which i have managed to put down in this article. And all the execution done by Sunil was nothing but a superb exhibition of climbing skills which only a world class climber possesses. The kind of effortless moves he takes on difficult patch is simply awesome; the grips on the loose rocks, making swift movements on the edges shows the excellent technique of wait transfer.
The windup process was a quick one where Ashok Sir made use of his good rope management skill since we were short of rope by almost 50 fts, but we never felt that. Managing it quite easily was wrapped up all the things by 3pm and left to the base. We had a lunch waiting for us, and rest of the team ready to march down to the village from where we started. We had some new discoveries where we found Manoj had a very good sense of cooking apart from his active climbing and team management skills which was discovered on this program, Raju who had been a silent customer all these days was found giving entertainment to the team with his witty jokes along woth Gaja Bhau, by the way he is a man Friday. Can take up any role in the team, even a lead climber at times, so we were quite amazed by his performance on this trip. Apart from these guys myself and Vaishali Rane were assisting the Ashok Sir and Sunil along with photography.
