January/February/March 2009
Rio Torretta
The physical
preparation for the forthcoming dives in February has begun.
11-01-09
Alpine ski trip to Aussferrera in the Swiss mountains, level difference of about
1000 meters. Little interesting in the first part of the ascent up to the
crest's shelters, then, after a short hike in the wood, once passed the tree
limit, the landscape becomes very beautiful with candid steep slopes and
snow-sparkling mountain tops. I am alone while I am continuing on a recent trace;
two people have passed before me, but during the whole trip, I meet small herds
of deer and chamoises and in the end even a white partridge which is detaching
in flight because of my passage.
12-01-09
Alpine ski trip, this time near home: I depart in the afternoon, to ascend the
path that connects Barzio to the Plans of Bobbio. The level difference is 1056
meters, but the legs are hardened a little bit for the non-digested tiredness of
yesterday. I am not very much in shape and therefore during the ascent I suffer
more than the usually .
13-01-09 The
morning is dedicated to body exercises in free gymnastics.
14-01-09
Little trip of alpine skiing with 600mt of level difference and in the afternoon
free body gymnastics.
15-01-09 The
morning is dedicated to body exercises in free gymnastics.
Afternoon in
carpentry to prepare a support for the video camera to attach onto the scooter
for getting spectacular images… hopefully!
16-01-09 The
morning is dedicated to body exercises in free gymnastics. Afternoon again in
carpentry.
17-01-09
Alpine ski trip to Hinterrhein in Switzerland, level difference 2000 meters.
Ascent to the Chilchalphorn descent and ascent again to the Wenglispitx without
reaching the top of the latter mountain.
18-01-09 Day of
rest.
19-01-09 Day of
rest.
20-01-09 The
weather changes, increase of the temperature and consequent rainfall instead of
the snow which had filled the vadose zones and zones of transition that are
feeding the springs of Oliero and Elefante Bianco.
The flooding
has already reached the springs, we will see what will happen. For the rest of
the morning I don't feal very well, the beginning of a flu.
21-01-09 The
flu.
22-01-09 The
flu.
23-01-09 The
training has started again.
Free body gymnastics.
24-01-09 Alpine
ski trip to the Pizzo Ucello in Switzerland, level difference 1100m.
25-01-09 Alpine
ski trip to the mountain huts of Palio-Cimone at Margno, level difference 1200
meters. In the evening I contact Ennio about news of the springs: The
Elefante Bianco is still flooding and the visibility has reduced to few more
than 50cm and the account of the Oliero spring is very much the same. I decide
to inform all participants of the expedition about the situation. We postpone
the departure for one week but we are forced to change the objectives because
this winter the conditions at the Oliero and Elefante Bianco hardly will return
to be good.
26-01-09
Putting in order water tightness and friction of the medium pink scooter.
27-01-09
Putting in order equipments among which the new Copis of the Piper (Pifferaio).
Free body gymnastics.
28-01-09
Alpine ski trip to the mountain huts of Palio-Cimone of Margno, level difference
1400 meters.
29-01-09 Putting
in order equipments.
30-01-09 Alpine
ski trip in Grisons/ Switzerland. Ascent to the Piz Surgonda, level difference
1000 meters. Descent by the steep slope below the top.
I continue
training in the hope that the conditions of some springs improve. Unfortunately
the weather forecasts for the moment are not favorable.
31-01-09 Some
gymnastics in the morning and I prepare the scooters to test it tomorrow
morning.
01-02-09 Finally,
after having got back my dry suit repaired by Lawrence Pari, I return in water.
My dive has the objective to test the scooter with the video camera attached
behind. Depth -10m, distance passed 3km total dive time 52 minutes. With the
scooter equipped with the video camera attached on behind I even succeed in
making loopings.
There is also a second scooter, tested by Candy, but unfortunately it is flooded
in the motor compartment. No problem for the autonomy which remains at 1,8km. In
the meantime Luca tries his video camera and films my repeated loopings. Squark
and the Fiurista lay out measured line to evaluate the distance passed by the
propellers and take it out again at the end of the test. The Piper tries his new
Copis.
02-02-09 The
weather is definetly unfavorable for the improvement of the conditions of the
springs, it continues to rain and to snow.
Today I stay
at home to do some gymnastics exercises. In the afternoon I go to the workshop
to ask some changes to the stirrup of the video camera.
03-02-09 I have
to go to Milan to pick up parts for the water tightness of the scooter. Day
thrown away in the city traffic.
04-02-09 Finally
a glance of sun, in a hurry I rush to the mountains to exercise. I ascend the
path that leads from Barzio to the Plans of Bobbio, 1000 meters of level difference.
While I am
descending it starts to snow again.
05-02-09 Morning
dedicated to free body gymnastics.
06-02-09 It's
impossible… it is warm, it pours with rain since yesterday and snow is melting
up to over the 1000 masl.
I am worried,
the situation in the caves is worsening more and more and I am about to finish
my period of free time from working assignments. I have to try to anticipate
some courses to be able to move the dates for the explorations that I would like
to complete this winter.
In any
case I pass the morning exercising.
07-02-09 I
dedicate the weekend to a course.
09-02-09 Day
of training in the mountains; Once again I ascend the path from Palio to the
Cimone, a total of1400 meters of level difference.
The training
proceeds in the best ways, I am fast in ascent (1000m/h) and this significates a
good coordination of breath and use of the muscles.
10-02-09 A couple
of hours of gymnastics, then dive in the lake dedicated to a course.
Toward
evening the Piper arrives to give me a hand putting in order some material.
11-02-09
Morning passes by checking and putting in order the regulators and the magazine.
Verification of the batteries of the lighting system and the electric heating
vest.
12-02-09 In
the morning we dismount the transmission tree of a scooter and replace the
batteries put in charge. Then I return to the mountains, regarding the
conditions and the little time at my disposition I ascend to Palio and some ups
and downs along the path for a total of 1400 meters of level difference.
13-02-09
Gymnastics in the morning and dive leading a course in the afternoon.
14-02-09 Day
dedicated to rest.
15-02-09 Dive
leading a course while the others cruise around forth and back with my scooters
to verify the duration of the batteries.
16-02-09 The
conditions of the snow mantle are not yet consolidated, but the desire to go
aloft leads me to the Engadine.
What a marvelous
valley covered by an unbelievable quantity of snow. My plan is that to ascend
the Piz of Agnel, I arrive at the parking lot and strangely there is nobody
else. No big problem I tell to myself, starting the trip making a new trace
considering that the wind has covered the existing one with snow.
The
conditions and the effort make me divert in direction of the Campagnung. Once
reached the steep slope that leads towards the hill I decide to follow a
different route than the old one, more vertical cutting the slant the least
possible.
I am
completely alone, I don't see anybody, not even on the other routes in the zone,
my companions are the noise of the snow that is crushed under my skis and the
breath.
At the
end I don't reach the top because the last 100m of ascent seemed a little bit
too dangerous to me, but in remuneration I have gone down and gone up again
twice the longest slant, the snow was more than beautiful to be satisfied with
only one descent.
17-02-09
Gymnastics in the morning and a dive leading a course in the afternoon.
The conditions of
the springs seem to improve.
I still wait
for another week and then I will decide whether to depart and where to go.
18-02-09 Day dedicated to gymnastics and putting in order the materials. In my
studio the order is exeeding the disorder, this is an almost unbelievable
situation and in fact nobody can believe it.
19-02-09 The mountain that awaits me is the Chilchalphorn (1420m of level
difference). It is a serene day, but very cold and getting out of the valley, I
am exposed to a strong wind that accompanies me for the whole ascent. Quite soon
I realize, that the light overall I am wearing is not enough and I start to
cover myself. The strongly frozen hands make me reflect about how much time I
didn't feel so cold.
The last 200m of level
difference, I ascend covered all over: from the cap to the windbreaker, up to
the impermeable cover-gloves. Arrived at the top I don't even stay one minute to
enjoy some landscape, but with hands insensitive to the cold I block the boots
and the attacks with quite some effort. Without removing the skis, I take off
the furs which fortunately are detached easily. During the descent, slowly
slowly the temperature in the hands rises again and the pain of the blood that
flows back is in a way that I would like to cut them off.
20-02-09 Still have little sensibility in the extremities of the fingers because
of the cold suffered yesterday. Today I will go to the Bedretto Valley and then
I will decide about the trip. I don't remember to have ever seen this valley
with so much snow: over 2 meters on the roofs, the walls at the sides of the
road 2,5-3 meters,
unbelievable. The slopes are loaded with snow, the danger of avalanches is level
three. I will go to
the Cristallina hut ascending one of the classical routes. The route unfolds
between woods and false plains up to the last steep ascent that, if I wasn't in
good shape, I would avoid to ascend. The track is fresh because three people
have already been ascending.
After about twenty minutes I pass them and now it's up to me to
trace the track in 20-30cm of fresh snow. The legs have to fatigue much more but
it is more amusing to choose the way. Upon arrival at the final slope I decide
to turn back without facing it. The trip finishes after having overcome about
800
meters of level difference.
The descent is an
amusement.
21-02-09 Dive dedicated to
a trimix course.
22-02-09 Dive dedicated to
a trimix course.
23-02-09 Some gymnastics
and various errands looking for necessary equipment parts.
24-02-09 Again towards the
mountains, in direction of St. Bernardino where once arived at the pass, besides
some clouds deriving from the north there is still a lot of wind. I decide to
change area and with a long ride on the highway of about 100 km, I go to the
Bedretto Valley. The quantity of snow along the edge of the road has already
notably decreased, but the slopes have still not discharged anything. The
village All'Acqua can be reached by car: a beautiful track ascends in direction
of the pass of St. Giacomo, I follow it reaching the pass.
Clouds and wind, fast ascents and descents which offer plenty of serpentines in
20cm of powdery snow.
25-02-09 Lazy day; I
answer to e-mails, I prepare the firewood for the fireplace at home, I listen to
music and read, I meditate.
26-02-09 It seems that the sensibility to the extremities of the fingers is
completely restored.
Up to now I have improved my physical shape, training with alpine ski trips, but
also for how much these were interesting, my look when I was in height, didn't
aim so much towards the mountains, but pierced them, turning towards the springs
hidden, in front of which I would have desired to be, ready to explore them. The
sun, the snow, the temperatures that apparently appear to be so harmless to the
eyes of the profane, destroyed the specific situations for me to continue the
explorations.
With phone calls to friends of the place day after day I have been following the
levels of the springs, the conditions of visibility, and day after day, the hope
was substituted by disappointment.
By now I have lost every hope to be able to dive in the programmed springs, but
I am impatient with the desire to start something new in my preferred element,
water, and specifically in my preferred environment, the cave.
Another round of phone calls and I make agreements to start in
another I place, where, so much for a change, the conditions are not the best.
For superstition, it will remained unnamed up to the crucial moment: we wait for
Sunday and then, in spite of the endless rain and the regulator of the
meteorological conditions, we will decide whether to go.
27-02-09 Alpine ski trip to Engadina (CH). I
ascend to the peak Grevasalvas, with a total level difference of about 1000
meters. Because of some cloudy passages at lower elevations, I give up reaching
the top because visibility becomes so scarce that I don't even succeed to see
the tip of the skis.
28-02-09 by
plane, a one day trip to the Eudi in Rome.
I am guest and chairman of the round
table which has as the subject "Extreme diving", organized by the magazine Mondo
Sommerso for that occasion, whose publisher has published my Manual of
Underwater Speleology two years ago. The second important meeting is at the
stand of TDI, where I participate in a meeting organized by the "bosses" Athena
Barbera and Aldo Ferrucci.
Beside of the meetings and the conferences, this is really the occasion to meet
again friends with whom usually the contact is mostly by telephone in one place.
In this way among the first ones
there is Roberto Rinaldi with whom I compare ideas and projects.
In the afternoon, I quickly move from
one place to another: Lorenzo Cervellin is at the stand of Aquatica, proud of
his new pool in which it is possible to see the ROV in action; I meet Cesaroni
alias Mako, then I walk to the stands of the Police divers of the division of
Rome where I have the pleasant fortune to meet a friend of my youth; I don't
miss to visit the stands of DAN, FIPSAS, Aquasport, ScubaPortal and many others.
At about tea time, I answer to the questions of a gentle maiden who interviews
me for TVTWEB and then back into the bedlam to greet some friends starting with
Rizia Ortolani in top form and finishing with Eduardo Pavia.
Unfortunately for me, one alone day is
not enough for greeting and exchanging pleasant chatters with everybody: I have
to return to my mountains.
01-03-09 Back
home I select and prepare the equipment to load in the car and leave in
direction of Valstagna. The objective is to lend my friend Alberto Cavedon a
hand in the exploration of the Fontanazzi Cave.
The meteorological forecasts for the
week don't promise anything good and it is possible that only tomorrow we will
have the chance for a try.
02-03-09 We meet in front of the Fontanazzi.
Alberto, Mosè, the Piper and me divide the tasks to execute inside the spring. I
dive in at 13.15 to transport the emergency 20 ls bailout tanks to the deep part
and Alberto departs at 14.00. After about 2h30 when Alberto is planned to be
already in decompression, I return into the water to recover the bailout tanks
and Mosè and the Piper will come with me, so that in three we succeed in
transporting the whole material out of the cave easily and quickly .
Alberto has been able to continue the
exploration for about thirty meters reaching a depth of -133m.
Actually the visibility is not the best, there are 5m
of visibility.
03-03-09 We load
the material back into the car and direct toward another objective: the Spring
of Rio Torretta.
My idea is to verify the conditions and the much described narrow passages at
the inside. Around midday we are at the parking lot: Francesco, the Piper,
Romano and me. We get ready and
enter the cave: I use a set of double 12 liters while Francesco uses double 10
liters and the Piper uses double 7 liters. We reach the third sump and pass the
restriction at -7m, all of us with the tanks on the shoulders, while I continue
for around 200m reaching the depth of -27m and no other restriction appears in
the tunnel.
04-03-09 Today I rest, while Alberto and the Piper are transporting the
emergency tanks to the third sump: two 12 liter tanks and two 7 liter tanks.
Alberto informs that the most unpleasant restriction is at -40m depth, for which
I decide to return home to bring some more adequate equipments for this dive.
05-03-09 I am at home and pick up the tanks that serve me.
The appointment is at Val di Astico in
the late afternoon and the rain that roars incessantly since yesterday worries
me: they tell me that a big part of the springs in the valley of the Brenta are
in flood, but I still hope that Rio Torretta will give us a try.
I
leave in the late afternoon to reach my destination but after one hour in the
traffic chaos, I receive a phone call from Alberto: "Hi Gigis, I am at the
spring and I see that the level is very high, the water is for flowing over,
even if visibility is good.
I
decide to return home because the level is at least 10 meters higher than the
normal level, and I don't know the reactivity of the springh well enough.
06-03-09 Sometimes would be necessary to stop and think: my equipment has
remained there at Lastebasse and tomorrow I am beginning course of the Copis
rebreather at Lecco; I am forced to go to recover my dry suit and my closed
circuit Copis. I will take advantage to go to
take a peek at the spring. When climbing up the stone covered by soft musk I see
it and I remain fascinated: the level is high but the water is crystal clear and
fabulous and it is framed by a strong shining at the entry that shimmers in the
light of the sun which penetrates the surface and illuminates the bottom. I
could have taken advantage to begin the topography, but who expected a flood
with clear water?
07-03-09 I begin the rebreather course which at the moment will occupy me until
tuesday.
09-03-09 In the morning I succeed to exercise a little with skis in the mountain
and return around midday because in the early afternoon a dive of the course is
planned.
10-03-09 finished the dive of the course, I load the car, grab a sandwich and
leave. A little more than three hours of trip
are expecting me, but tomorrow I will finally dive in the cave.
11-03-09 first dive with sidemounted closed circuit; I add 20 meters of new
exploration reaching the depth of -57.
12-03-09 day of
rest and equipments setup.
13-03-09 after having assigned the tasks to Francesco and Alberto, I move toward
the cave together with Mosè to enter it around the end of the morning. During
the transport in the dry part from the first to the second sump, my sidemounted
circuit gets a leak and obviously bubbles get out from one counterlung:
unfortunately at the moment, I am not able to repair it. While Mosè transports a
12 liter tank from the first to the second sump I reflect about what to do: I
decide not to try the exploration but to take some picturess up to the first
restriction in the third sump. When Francesco
and Alberto meet us, we explain the situation to them and, while Mosè and I
return to the surface, they replace the guide line in the third sump until the
start of the new line laid out by me. I am forced to return home to try to
repair the closed circuit.
14-03-09 course
closed circuit Copis. In the breaks of the course I identify and repair the loss
from the sack of the sidemounted closed circuit.
15-03-09 course closed circuit Copis. In the meantime, Alberto completes the
substitution of the line in the first part of the third sump.
In the evening I am again travelling to
Lastebasse, equipped with a Copis in higly reduced version and with a repaired
sidemounted closed circuit.
16-03-09 In the
morning Mosè and the Piper arrive. We plan a dive for effecting the topography
and video documentation of the third sump starting at -34m.
After a little while, the video camera of
Mosè makes some tantrums and is blocked in the first sump.
With the miniaturized Copis, easily
passing the restrictions of the third sump I begin the draft of the topography
from the restriction to -34 ms and after 210 meters and 80 minutes I interrupt
and return to the surface. Mosè,
who has succeeded in passing the first restriction with his Megalodon in normal
configuration, exults in joy about the great success.
17-03-09 I set up the Copis in a less
extrem reduced way, even if reduced to the minimum. Still together with Mosè and
the Piper I go to the cave and together we get ready. Alberto and Francesco will
enter the cave a two hours after our departure. I continue the exploration for
130 meters ascending to -6m; Mosè passes also the second restriction with the
slightly modified Megalodon.
Four bold guys, almost young and
without problems to recover all the laid out emergency tanks.
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