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The expedition Tepui 2016 is over, but the dream continues

Details: Created: Friday, 08 April 2016 10:39; Published: Friday, 08 April 2016 10:39; Hits: 13173

We came back... but our dreams are once again up there in the clouds of the blue mountains, the tepuis, the boundless plateaus of Guyana.
From just over a week has ended also this new step of the Project Tepui, probably the most complex and expensive mission realized by La Venta in these extreme lands. Two expeditions, the first in the legendary tepui Sarisariñama where exactly forty years ago had begun the epic explorations in quartzites, and the second on the Auyan, where the Imawarì Yeuta wonder continues to amaze us asking to return.
It's really difficult to make a summary of these forty days, too many things have happened, emotions and difficulties have crossed in a flurry that brought us to achieve all the objectives and to return to the reality happy of how things turned out, thanks to the determination of participants and a good deal of luck. And we brought home too many stories to be told coldly on the screen of this blog. I so I limit to describe the speleological results and let speak for themselves of the wonder of these significant places the images that follow.

From the House of the Gods

Details: Created: Sunday, 20 March 2016 20:04; Published: Sunday, 20 March 2016 20:04; Hits: 10864

I am returning, airport Boa Vista, Brazil.
I left yesterday morning around 8 o'clock from the underground the base camp in the cave Imawarì Yèuta ("The House of the Gods" for pemones indios).
It was late. I did not hear the alarm clock because in the night, due to a strong external rain, the noise of the underground stream that runs near the camp has increased.
Or maybe I did not hear it because I did not want to leave the House of the Gods.
In less than half an hour I arrived at the surface, at base camp on the Auyan Tepui, where alongside the colorful tents Ferrino rests a strange creture, black, giant. What on the Tepui we call The Time Machine: the helicopter.
No time for a coffee, we must go down to catch the window of clear in the clouds that almost always cover this sector of the immense Auyan Tepui. Take off my caving suit, I put the stuff wet from overnight rain, greetings and kisses, a bit of emotion as always when we separate. And as always the struggle between the desire for a good shower and the desire to stay up here.
In the cave he has remained the group that is working with the laser scanner in the most significant areas: the Gallery of the Thousand Columns, the salon Paolino Cometti, the Sima de la Cascada. A slow work, monotonous, but extraordinarily needed in a place like this underground system.
Outside, a short distance from the external Base Camp, was descent yesterday a new fracture (grieta) and found a cave with water running, but not the large gallery and the great river that is certain, are down there somewhere. After all Himawari is already more than 22 km, and was not surveied nor fully explored…
The group that I leave is happy, though not everything went smoothly: costs greater than expected, the radio bridge that does not come to cover this area, many annoying illnesses, especially dysentery and things like that. It is not the water in the base camp, but something caught in the village of Kanarakuni few days ago. Antibiotics have not been helpful and were hit especially Carla, Daniela and Captain Cesco Sauro, today called Revenant.
The first ignition attempt fails. If the starter does not work in my house you can push, or go to a near mechanic. But here? On the top of a tepui? From this area on foot or with the ropes is impossible to go down, we should wait another helicopter, who knows from where and who knows when...
Then the noise of the air turbine tears the thin air of the mountain, the wind caused by the blades lashes the impenetrable forests of Bonetia while the fellows who remains holds the tents. Their faces looking at us flows from down, more and more distant. We enter into the clouds.
Twenty minutes flying and we go down of 2,000 meters to Kavak, indigenous village and small resort managed by the community of Kamarata. First shower after an indefinite number of days, almost the ecstasy. Clothes hanging in the sun for a few minutes, quick meal and then a Cessna that in two hours runs almost 500 km leading me to Santa Elena de Uairén, on the border with Brazil, from which I leaved time ago. Posada Apoipò, first night on a regular bed after nearly a month: I desired it really, but unbelievably I sleep badly… and still I think of what we are doing.
After the challenging explorations on the Sarisariñama, the second part of this mission La Venta/Theraphosa is dedicating to the House of the Gods with scientific activities such as laser detection, the microbiological sampling and more. Will end on next 22 or 23, then the most of the group (fifteen people) will be back in Italy, a lucky few will continue to south for the upcoming expedition in Patagonia, while the Venezuelan friends will stay at home, to fight daily against a social situation and an inflation that is destroying one of the most beautiful and richest country in the world. May the force be with you, hermanos.
This morning I crossed the border with Brazil coming here to Boa Vista airport, where I'm waiting for the flight to Manaus. Today I will sleep in the capital of Amazonas state, overlooking the Rio Negro, and tomorrow I have a flight to Lisbon via Belem. Finally in Italy on Sunday, having left on Thursday. Four long days to return and many, many more to remember.
Tullio

Tepui Sarisariñama. Finished the expedition.

Details: Created: Thursday, 10 March 2016 14:16; Published: Thursday, 10 March 2016 14:16; Hits: 13031

It has been a few days but very intense and full of activities. All the work has been concentrated in about ten days because of long trips as the area it is not served by roads and we had to make extensive use of small planes that could land on the short track of Kanadakuni, the Ye'kuana village at the base of the massif.
There, we were greeted in a very welcoming way from the village which has provided us with the Churuata (shared cabin) as well as supplies of water and fresh food. And it is thanks to them that we managed to get to some of the goals of the expedition. Their help in opening traces of trails in the forest was essential. In particular that of the head of the village Romulo Rodriguez.
Moreover an elder of the "near" village (two days' journey) of Fiyawaña, the wise man Lorenzo Garcia, told us about the legends of this mountain. A wonderful story that has its roots in myth and forest. As soon as possible we transcribe and publish it because is really addictive and because it demonstrates a knowledge of the mountain and its most hidden parts (the simas exactly) unbelievable.
The team soon divided into two groups.
The first group, after mounting the radio bridge essential for communications, was literally downloaded from the helicopter in the north area of the tepui at the Sima Menor (Mütakiñu wejakajudu which means from where rose the diseases in the world). Equipped the wall of 140 meters have been revisited the Cueva de la Cascada and the Cueva de los Guácharos to carry out the documentation and take scientific samples. Soon after they were moved to the Sima Profunda (Tuna enitojudu where it went the water of the sky), a great unexplored shaft of 150 meters at the base of which a new cave was explored (at the moment called Salon 174) that reaches the depth of 200 meters, where were made documentation and scientific researchs. This camp was characterized by the complete lack of water on the surface and therefore from having to supply down in the cave, with the effort to bring out tens of liters of water in heavy bags. Moreover, the very inhospitable environment of the forest, has caused it to be handled as a real advanced camp with the use of only freeze-dried foods.
The second group has operated in the area south of the Massif. The first exploration was immediately fruitful. The discoveringo of the Sima del Pajaro del Diablo (Yadanaima ewutu the devil's parrot) has led to the exploration of a new cave 240 meters deep with environments remarkable in size and very interesting from the scientific point of view because it develops at the contact between the inclined wall and the accumulation of collapse blocks. The camp was then moved at Sima Redonda (Kurata yejakajudu where they built the blowgun to kill Dimoshi, the eagle that ate the natives). A camp almost suspended on the trunks at the top of the walls of the sima where to move it was impossible. The Sima descent has not led to the discovery of any cave at the base. We moved so in a more comfortable field on the bank of a river. But the convenience of the camp and finally the presence of surface water has been paid in terms of the amount of hours of movement in forest to reach the two additional objectives. The first, a resurgence (Kudata emajojudu where they hid the blowpipe) in altitude It gave the hope to get into the freatic level. Unfortunately, also here we have not succeeded in. While the second objective, the Sima de la Lluvia (Tudene wowiinakajudu where he hid Tudene, the eagle killing) and the underlying Cueva de los Cristales have allowed to carry out the sampling operations and the documentation.
On the last evening, returned to the village of Kanadakuni, has seen us protagonists of a sumptuous dinner offered to us by the natives made from venison and yarake (fermented yucca liquor). And perhaps because of this, while someone more sober was illustrating our experiences in the forest and in caves on the mountain to the community, others have "performed" in a volleyball game in which local girls have done a great figure!
The whole expedition was followed by a journalist (Lars Abromeit) and by a photographer (Robbie Shone), themselves excellent cavers, for the magazine GEO Germany.
A special thanks goes to the helicopter pilot (Captain José Galindes) given that we have always had to operate in hovering without to land because of the vegetation. And of course to Raul Arias (our member and especially friend for many years, owner of the company who supplied it).
Now the group split. One part, now in Santa Elena on the border with Brazil, returns to Italy, while others are moving towards Auyan Tepui and the Cave of Imawari Yeuta where they will conduct further scientific analysis campaigns (geological but especially microbiological) and the completion of the video and picture documentation.
Just arrived back in Italy will show a few more pictures and some movie segment to share these beautiful and wild places.
Leo Colavita

The expedition is organized by La Venta Esplorazioni Geografiche and Teraphosa Exploring Team with the support of: Gobernación de el Estado de Bolivar, Raul Helicopteros, Dolomite, Intermatica, Ferrino, Amphibious, De Walt, Allemano Metrology, Chelab, Scurion, GTLine, New Foods, MountainHouse, Bee1, Raumer, Tensile, Fedra srl di Tiziano Conte, Konus, Erboristeria Sauro.

Participated: Lars Abromeit, Raul Arias, Daniela Barbieri, Tullio Bernabei, Leonardo Colavita, Carla Corongiu, Vittorio Crobu, Antonio De Vivo, José Galindes, José Garcia, David Izquierdo, Marco Mecchia, Alessio Romeo, Francesco Sauro, Robbie Shone, Lenin Vargas, Freddy Vergara, Jesus Vergara.

Sarisariñama, 40 years after

Details: Created: Thursday, 25 February 2016 07:28; Published: Thursday, 25 February 2016 07:28; Hits: 12448

Santa Helena de Uairèn, Southern Venezuela border with Brazil.

The small hotel where we are staying is called Apoipo, which in the local language is a form of greeting well-wishing. Which it bodes well for a group that is planning to go to do things a little complex in a place far away from everything.

From here the few passing tourists head to the famous Roraima, the tepui most frequented, located a hundred kilometers NE. We instead tomorrow will go the other way, to the west for about 500 km. Early in the morning from the small airport will depart a strange and assorted air squadron: a Long Ranger helicopter, an old Antonov cargo plane with the usual abundant ton of material that follows us faithfully, two small Cessna. In total 12 people, 8 Italian and 4 Venezuelans. The well-established "Gang of Tepui", led by the pirate Cesco Sauro, without kerchief but with on the wrist its famous clock, spoils of a victory that allows us these non just economic expeditions. But dollars would not be enough if here there was not our member Freddy with the other guys of the venezuelan cave group Theraphosa.

What are the Tepui? Is since 25 years that we come here, everyone should know... are huge and ancient towers that rise from the plain called Gran Sabana, consisting of very hard quartzite. Mountains posed definitely on the border between reality and fantasy, but more pendants by the latter side... There are about seventy, scattered over a vast territory, almost all inaccessible except by air assets. I will say more: many have never been reached.

And there are caves on Tepui? Ah, but then we have to explain it all... in theory there should not be, because the quartzite is infinitely less soluble of our beloved limestone, but in practice there are. The extraordinary age of these mountains, over a billion years, has allowed that could happen everything to them: very deep fractures, very large horizontal systems, new minerals, new concretions, new forms of life... in short, an alien world that can give a lot to the scientific research.

Our greatest discovery, the cave called Himawari Yeuta, over 20 km long, took place just three years ago on the Auyan Tepui and has opened unimaginable exploratory frontiers.

So it is now time for a tepui much more remote, the Sarisariñama. A nice name.

We go to explore it, but we're not the first.

The track where we land tomorrow with our colorful flotilla, at the indigenous village of Kanarakuni, was opened half a century ago by a great Italian explorer, Alfonso Vinci. If you have not read "Live as if you were eternal" do it, it's worth it.

The Sarisariñama, which dominates the area, was joined for the first time by Charles Brewer Carias in 1974 and then exactly 40 years ago, in 1976, by Polish and Venezuelans cavers, always with the support of an helicopter.They explored three caves: the Sima Mayor, the Sima Menor and the Sima de la Lluvia (abyss of rain). The latter, 1 km and a half long, became the greater cave of the world in quarzite rocks. Himawari is now 15 times that long, but we are not talking to compete over who located the longest cave.

It is going into the tepui, exploring one at a time, in a systematic way, and look at them with new eyes. To get lost in their three-dimensional heart and gradually discover all of the stranger things they have to tell us. Will not fail to let you see.

Tullio

Read more: Sarisariñama, 40 years after

Crystals of Naica: goodbye forever!

Details: Created: Thursday, 22 October 2015 12:05; Published: Friday, 22 January 2016 11:07; Hits: 9775

Is closing forever the window which just 15 years ago had opened on the fantastic world of Naica and its gigantic crystals. A sudden coming of water, of a size that can not be controlled, has caused the rapid progressive flooding of the Naica mine (Chihuahua, Mexico) inside which had been discovered some caves with the largest gypsum crystals in the world.

The mine was then abandoned and the caves will be in a few weeks under almost 150 meters of water: no human eye can see them ever more. It is a great loss not only for speleology but for all mankind. Remains the tremendous work of research and documentation that the Association La Venta, together with Speleoresearch and Film of Mexico City, has coordinated between 2006 and 2010 and allowed on one hand to document directly, with thousands of photos and hours of film, all aspects of this incredible world and on the other led a team of scientists from three continents to study every detail of these caves. Although unable to directly see these wonders of nature, future generations will then have memory of Naica and its giant crystals and especially thanks to the publications that La Venta has already produced and will produce in the near future on these amazing caves, now lost for always. El Diario (local newspaper) Reuter Agency

Abyss of Cenote, in the heart of the Dolomites - Project Inside the Glaciers

Details: Created: Thursday, 15 October 2015 12:00; Published: Friday, 22 January 2016 11:01; Hits: 10961

Last weekend, despite the difficult weather conditions, there was another chapter of the Project Inside the Glaciers, sponsored and supported by the Association La Venta, with the coordination of geologists and association members Alessio Romeo and Francesco Sauro. This time the theater of the research was the underground glacier abyss of Cenote, almost three thousand meters of altitude in the area of Cima Conturines, in the Park of Fosses Senes and Braies.

The exploration of the impressive abyss had already begun in 1994 by the Speleological Club Proteo of Vicenza. The cave was discovered following the sudden emptying of the large initial depression, then known as "Lake of the two forks." Finding the way down through the ice was not easy and in the following years the explorations were interrupted at about 70 meters depth due to difficult conditions for the summer melting of ice mass. Only in 2010, taking advantage of the first cold of autumn, it was possible to descend a huge inner shaft, only partially explored and documented. In this context it is placed the operation "Cenote 2015", with the involvement of the caving groups CS Proteus and G. S. Padovano, with the logistic support of La Venta and the scientific advice of the University of Bologna and Innsbruck. Despite the bad weather had settled about 70 cm of snow at high altitudes, forcing the expedition to wait two days, Saturday 17 it was possible to load on the mountain a field well-equipped, thanks to the professionalism of the pilots and operators of Elifriulia. Several teams then entered in the cave, to equip the cavity and to install a platform in the big shaft on which to put a laser scanner. The decisive moment was held between Sunday and Monday night, with the installation of temperature and pressure sensors, data loggers, scanning laser scanner salon and the final realization of a photographic reportage by photographer Robbie Shone and Alessio Romeo. The scientific results and 3D scanning will be processed in the coming weeks, but the results indicate that this cavity is one of the most important paleoclimate archives in the Dolomites. The laser scanner measure of the final room, dedicated to caver of the CSP Paolo Verico died in 2006, provided a maximum width of 120x36 m with a base area of 2,734 m2 and a volume of over 200,000 cubic meters. The total height of the abyss exceeds 200 meters, confirming that this is the largest underground room explored in the Dolomites. A general thank to those who participated and to the people who have worked with great effort and expenditure of time to the success of this operation: Daniela Barbieri, Matteo Barison, Alessandro Benazzato, Domenico Carletto, Samuela Dal Maso, Luca Dal Molin, Tono De Vivo, Filippo Felici, Mauro Lampo, Francesco Lo Mastro, Andrea Pirovano, Enzo Procopio, Alessio Romeo, Alberto Righetto, Francesco Sauro, Robbie Shone. Contributed to the success of the expedition the Proteus Speleological Club, the Speleological Group Padovano and the Group Caves Treviso. Also thanks to Carlo Poivesan for the construction of the aluminum structure for the laser scanner.
A heartfelt thanks to the Office Parks of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano for the authorization they granted us. We thank also the Commissione Centrale per la Speleologia CAI for support, the companyGruppo Servizi Topografici for the Laser Scanner, as well as the sponsors and patrons European Speleological Federation, Tiberino, Scurion, Intermatica, the French association Spélé’ice, the association La Venta, BEE1, Sovendi, the Italian Speleological Society and the National Mountain and Speleological Rescue Corp.

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Blog

The expedition Tepui 2016 is over, but the dream continues

From the House of the Gods

Tepui Sarisariñama. Finished the expedition.

Sarisariñama, 40 years after

Crystals of Naica: goodbye forever!

Abyss of Cenote, in the heart of the Dolomites - Project Inside the Glaciers

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The expedition Tepui 2016 is over, but the dream continues

From the House of the Gods

Tepui Sarisariñama. Finished the expedition.

Sarisariñama, 40 years after

Crystals of Naica: goodbye forever!

Abyss of Cenote, in the heart of the Dolomites - Project Inside the Glaciers

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