OLIERO CAVES 2004
Cogol dei Siori
Tuesday 17/02
The expedition in Elefante Bianco Spring is finished with the dive of yesterday
and our attention turns toward the nearby Parolini Spring in the district of the
Oliero Caves. Fortunately we can continue to use the house at the Subiolo Bridge
that has served as general head quarter during the exploration of the Eefante
Bianco, therefore a big part of the material can be left well organized inside
the house, while we begin transporting the necessary material to start the
preparations for the exploration of the Parolini Cave.
Wednesday 18/02
We take advantage to organize the equipments, I go to Aquatica at Venice for the
maintenance of some regulators and to buy some necessary material.
Thursday 19/02
The weather is worsened, it begins to rain but fortunately in the highland of
Asiago it is snowing.
Some
tanks that will serve in case of the necessity of open circuit bailout or
assistance are taken into the water, while I speed to Coltri at Desenzano to
replace the burst enginge that produces the movement of the compressor group
that is supposed to deliver 13.000 l/h.
Friday 20/02
It keeps on raining and the forecasts give bad weather until Monday but the
worse news is the increase of the frost level, which means that there could also
be rainfall on the highland.
The flood
of february 9th
Continues
until the 15th
The water
level inside the cave
After having
looked at the forecasts and after having discussed about the risks of a flood,
etc. we take the decision to keep on preparing the cave for the exploration.
Jean Jacques sets out with the scooter to take a 20 l emergency tank to about
750m from the entry and an exploration reel to about 500m from the entry. He
finds himself in a tangle of old, broken and very dangerous lines, he decides to
leave only the exploration reel there and to return back.
We return the 21st
Saturday 21/02
Claudio Caramella, Max Valsecchi have arrived
to lend to us a hand…..
It is finally my
turn, the conditions of the cave despite everything are still good, the cold in
spite of the forecasts seems to be stable, the visibility is excellent
considering that we are at Oliero. I start from the planks carrying everything
with me: two scooters, a guide reel and the 20l tank, I pass the gravel bed with
facility and I quickly reach the point where Jean Jacques has left the
explopration reel. I fix the guide line, I consider that the conditions are at
the limit of feasibility, after all the floods last autumn have been violent and
I continue leaving one scooter and the guide reel here. I reach 780m of distance,
even if the distance markers are torn away by the floods I know the zone well
because it is the final point of the topography. Surprise! From here on there is
no guide line anymore: a surprise because some tek-diver has told me to have
reached 1200m a few months ago, however since then there has been no violent
flood; I feels like smiling…..
I leave the
scooter on the rock at -50m and begin to descend until I reach the bottom at
-58m, I cross the hall in diagonal, after 70m of laid out line I am at -64m of
depth, I stop here, I shelter the exploration reel from possible floods hidden
among the rocks and begin to return, cleaning the tunnel from the different
pieces of broken line.
Once reached the
scooter I take it and begin the return but after some tens of meters I stop
again to cut the tangles of guide line. The consume with my semi closed circuit
is derisive and I am able take advantage of the luxury to make knots, to cut
lines etc., all of this with impressive calm. On the way of the return at 600m
from the entry I stop again to clean a passage: the old line looked at from the
near results to be quite ruined and in certain points it is united only by some
strings; better replace it.
Arrived in
decompression I decide to leave the decompression tanks set up the days before
in the cave, placing them in places sheltered safely from the floods: one 15l
tank at -40m, one 15l tank and 3kg of additional weights at -21m, one 15l tank,
one scooter and one guide reel at -15m, one 10l tank at -9m and one 15l tank at
- 6.
Sunday 22/02
As we leave the house of Ennio we realize that the wind is annoyingly warm, it
continues to rain, we think of the worst and even before we reach the spring the
show of the white water fall over the dam makes us understand that the flood has
already arrived.
In
the meantime Michel Powels, Marc and ... have arrived from Belgium.
I
remain the whole week at Valstagna, Max and the group of Belgians go to make
some fun dives at the Elefante Bianco and Fontanazzi, but a few days later also
these two springs become impracticable. On Saturday the flood is decreasing, the
visibility is about one meter and we return to the Oliero to try to recover the
material positioned in the first 300m of the cave. I wait outside of the cave
while the others recover everything.
The
cold has returned, but to return in good condition the Parolini Cave needs at
least other 15 days. In this period with all the snow that there is still at
Asiago I know that we will hardly have them.
Monday 23/02
I carry one emergency tank and a scooter that will serve me for the push dive in
the active part of the cave. I leave them at 1150m. The visibility is improved
to abaout one meter. From 1150m the old guide line is still intact, I follow it
up to the limit of exploration at 1455m, I attach the exploration reel and I
decide to return. 90 minutes of bottom time.
Wednesday 25/02
I reach 1150 m in 40 minutes, I
take the scooter that I had left and I pull it up to 1455 m. I change scooter
and start the exploration. The visibility is
always about 4m, the tunnel in this section it is more than 10m wide and at
least 4-5m high, it is difficult
to advance. The bottom is smooth and covered of pebbles, clay, gravel sometimes
some piece of rock. The depth is ranging between -45m and -48m. I risk to to
bump against the wall in some occasions, this allows me to observe them and from
the forms of the erosions I believe the tunnel winds to the right and to the
left. After 235m of new exploration I decide
to stop. In this point I don't succeed in finding a continuation. At the return
I recover all the material that was placed in the cave: one 20l tank, my 15l
bailout, the two scooters used for the progression and the emergency scooter.
Preparation
for the push dive of the 25th
View of the
starting point
The
entrance into the water
I
pre-breathe the scrubber
I switch on
the lights
Saturday 06/03
I return to the spring for one last attempt, with me and Jean Jacques there are:
there are Gualtiero Naibo, Francesco Boaria and Camillo….
The current is
not very strong but the visibility is decidedly scarce: 3m
Francesco enters
the water at first and carries the emergency scooter, the 7l tank, the 5l tank,
the guide reel, the lightings and the weights beyond the gravel bed.
The
decompression tanks are put in place quickly while I get ready for penetrating
the most distant possible. Everything proceeds well even if with the scooter and
this visibility it is quite difficult to follow the line, I am forced to advance
more slowly than usually.
I reach the
exploration reel that I have left 15 days ago, it is there and waits for me, I
unblock it and using the propulsion of the scooter I proceed laying out line.
In some sections of the cave it
seems that there are 3 ore 4 lines, in reality it is not like that because all
that other lines are nothing but various pieces of old broken line transported
there by the current.
The reduced
visibility in a tunnel of these dimensions doesn't help to find the continuation.
In some occasion during the progression I bump into the the wall, luckily I have
always succeeded in avoiding to beat hard, I pass points of the cave unknown to
me and probably I don't succeed in maintaining the ideal path.
However the 7l
tank I have left at 350m and for the rest of the dive including the return up to
the decompression tank I have consumed 160bar of one 12l tank. Amazing. At the
return I have stopped to rearrange the guide line in a passage.
Naibo arrives in the water after 130 minutes, I am already at 6m.
Camillo passes
by to make a fun dive in the cave.
Tomorrow Jean Jacques will bring a 20l tank and the exploration reel to 800m.
Monday 08/03
Dive with the intention to lay out some line in the active part of the cave.
Everything is ready, Naibo brings the scooter that I will use for the push dive
beyond the gravel bed. Yesterday
Jean Jacques has taken a 20l tank and the big exploration reel to about 500m
from the entrance. The oxygen analyser works only on led because during the
last dive it was flooded. I after after 12 o'clock, a little before it was only
me, JJ and Naibo. I arrive beyond the gravel bed and after having taken the
scooter and the exploration reel I realize that the 15l bailout tank is not
here. I think that JJ has picked it up. I change gas and beginning to descend.
At -35m I stop for leaving the decompression tank. I reach 500m where I find the
tank and the exploration reel but there is no trace of the 15l tank. It comes
into my mind that yesterday I have made Boaria take the ominous tank to -30m……..
I continue towed behind the scooter up to around 1100m where I have stayed the
day before yesterday. I leave the scooter, the tank and follow the old line.
After about twenty meters the line is broken again. I fix it and go on. After a
while I reach the intersection. The line is still good. I follow it up to the
end of the old exploration line, I attach the new line and begin to return after
60 minutes. After 90 minutes I am in decompression phase after having executed a
stop at -32 at about 350m from the entry. The
visibility is slightly improved, by now there are about 4m of good visibility.
Wednesday 10/03
I reach 1150 m in 40 minutes, I take the scooter that I had left and I pull it
up to 1455 m. I change the scooter and beginning the exploration. The visibility
is always about 4m, the tunnel in this section it is more than 10m wide and at
least 4-5m high, it is difficult to advance. The bottom is smooth and covered of
pebbles, clay, gravel sometimes some piece of rock. The depth is ranging between
-45m and -48m. I risk to to bump against the wall in some occasions, this allows
me to observe them and from the forms of the erosions I believe the tunnel winds
to the right and to the left. After 235m of
new exploration I decide to stop. In this point I don't succeed in finding a
continuation.
Returned to
1450m I change scooter, but after 200m of progression the motor turns empty. I
change the scooter again and start to return. The aquazepp works hard to pull
the 15l tank and the pink scooter, the batteries are almost low and there are
still 100m missing to reach the emergency scooter. Reached the little goodie I
arrange everything: I rig the 20l tank, the 15l tank and the aquazzep while I
tow behind the middle scooter of pink color. I slowly advance and with help the
scooter with a little fin kicking. Reached -45m I pick up also the emergency
bailout tank, drag everything up to -21m where I leave the heap ready for the
recovery by the 2 firemen.
Before
resurfacing
Exit out of
the water
After 130 minutes I arrive at the first decompression stop. The total run time
of the dive is 310 minutes.
The
total explored lenght of the cave now results to be 3603m.
I
have used two semi closed circuits Recy01.
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