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SORGENTE DELL'ELEFANTE BIANCO 2004

The departure to the “White Elephant” spring was scheduled for January 10th but it was postponed for a week due to visibility problems. On January 17th we meet at the cave site with Jean Jacques, Cristina, Ennio, Fabrizio, Matteo, Marcello, Mauro, Naibo and Patrick. The objective is to redraw the topography and continue the exploration. Although visibility is not the best, work begins. The first week goes quickly: laying the line, taking some video images and some photos, undertaking the topographic survey, and having a few problems with the equipment. On Thursday, Jean Jacques gets sick, but he continues to go to the source which worsens his condition; Saturday is the day of my first descent toward the deep section, beyond -140m, but in the morning, a violent coughing fit persuades me to avoid entering the water. On Sunday I feel like breaking into pieces: I have a cough and maybe a temperature too. Jean Jacques decides to return to Switzerland, I remain, praying for a miraculous recovery. In the meantime, the friends who had helped us in the first week have left and my new adventure companions have arrived: Domiziana, Fabrizio and Federico. They start their dives in the source and on Tuesday, as my health hasn’t improved, I decide to ask them recover the cylinders starting from -105m and remove the broken lines to a depth of about -75m. On Thursday I have a medical check up and the doctor gives me various medicines to take including antibiotics. On Saturday I head for home.

On February 7th, the Giara Caving Group organise and hold the annual dinner; the day after, on Sunday 8th, we begin to reorganise the camp and prepare the emergency cylinders. In the evening we have a fascinating dinner with Rick Stanton and Peter Mulholland. On Monday: we dive to position the emergency cilynders in the deep section. On Tuesday: we attempt to continue laying the line; the reel has been waiting for me for 15 days at -135m. The attempt fails at -105m, due to a problem with the regulator which fuels the circuit. In the meantime, the topography surveying of the deep area goes on. On Thursday I go down to -155m laying the line. On Saturday, everything is ready for the first exploration attempt. I take a 20 lt cylinder with me and a backup diving scooter (in Italian we nicknamed it “maialino” which means “piglet”) that I leave at -140m. After having reached the reel, I start laying the line while driving the scooter and I reach the limit of the last exploration. Last year I could see the whole gallery, now I am forced to stay close to a wall to be able to move on without wasting time. Approximately 10 meters after the limit I reached the year before, I am over a shaft, I leave the scooter and start descending along it. I can see the floor but I know that the gas I am breathing holds  too much PpO2, therefore when the -180m is reached, I stop. After 23' I begin the ascent. The total dive lasts 390'. On Sunday I readjust the diving bell, recharge a couple of cylinders and on Monday I am ready for a new exploration. In the morning I prepare the last things and, a little before noon, I go into the water while warming the circuit filters with my breathing. I get going, this time I have to carry nothing therefore I will be quicker. The switching of three different gases necessitates  three breathing bag cleanings, but then I quickly reach the top of the shaft. I leave the scooter and start the descent, I pick the reel up and reach the bottom. I’m at -184m, I fix the line to one of the few rocky projections and start finning to progress. I travel about 30m of gallery reaching a depth of -186m, I decide to begin the re entry. 26' have passed and there is still the whole gallery to swim back before starting the ascent. I start my deco at -150m, where I stop for 2 minutes, then gradually continue in this way until I get to the diving bell, where I breath a good amount of oxygen.  I reach the surface after 430'.

The White Elephant was and it is at present the deepest vauclusian spring in Italy and its actual depth of -186m also makes it one of the deepest springs in the world.

This exploration is also the deepest cave dive in the world, carried out adopting a rebreather.

Depth: -186m
Distance from the cave entrance: 530m
Distance of progression beyond -100m: 330m
Total diving time: 430’

Gas Comsumption:

Description of the cave section beyond -130m

The  base of the shaft is at about -130m and it is strewn with collapsed boulders, the passage that allows one to carry out the exploration is of generous size: about 10m wide and about 3m high. From there you can go quickly down to -139m. At this point it seems that the gallery doubles back. From here on, for about thirty metres in length till a depth of -140m, the gallery is always about 10m wide but becomes some 4-5m higher. In this area, although the rock is very smooth, there are several rocky projections which you can belay the line to. In the -140/-152m range one covers 20m (410m from cave entrance) in a sloping, boulder strewn gallery. From this point on there are no more boulders, the floor is smooth and it becomes difficult to anchor the line. At -155m an unexpected natural step, that is 30-40cm high, interrupts the continuity of the floor. The gallery maintains the same size, winding right and left; at a distance of  480m from entrance  and at a depth -165m a shaft opens. It is 19m deep, 7 to 8m wide, 10m long and triangular shaped. There are a few boulders on the floor of the shaft at the depth of -184m, and the gallery seems to double back again. Here the rock offers different belay points, the sizes remain the same as those of the previous gallery which accesses the shaft. After 30metres of progression, the explorative dive ends at -186m.

I thank:
Valstagna Municipality
Local friends: Ennio Lazzarotto, Claudio Costa e Gelio Costa, Robert Pontarollo e Oliver Wicman
Il Gruppo Grotte Giara Modon
The Fire fighting and diving corps in Vicenza
Acquatica, Best Divers, BTA Barnini

Friends who came from afar:
Jean Jacques Bolanz ( Swiss )
Patrick Deriaz ( Swiss )
Marc Vandermeulen ( Belgium )
Domiziana Troiani ( Italy )
Fabrizio Capaldo ( Italy )
Fabrizio Margherita ( Italy )
Federico Reggimenti ( Italy )
Matteo Diana ( Italy )

Friends who cam from near:
Claudio Carnello ( Italy )
Cristina Freghieri ( Italy )
Ennio Lazzarotto ( Italy )
Gualtiero Naibo ( Italy )
Marcello Ferretto ( Italy )
Mauro Bombardelli ( Italy )
Simone Piscitelli ( Italy )
Fabio Valenti ( Italy )

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