from CAVERS-DIGEST Digest 5197
Topic No. 3

Date: 11 Aug 95 13:38:17 EDT
From: Alessandro Landi <100525.555@compuserve.com>
To: Cavers 
Subject: Abyss of Mount Novegno
Message-ID: <950811173817_100525.555_HHN67-1@CompuServe.COM>

A BRIEF HISTORY 
November 1992, the telephone rings. A quiet, placid voice says: 
"It's Franco Reghellin from Tretto and I would like to inform you 
that I think I've found a new cave on Mount Novegno...". 
A moment of silence follows these words. A whirl of fast 
reflections: who is this man? has he really found a cave on 
Novegno? What kind of cave will it be? Horizontal or vertical? 
Does he have an idea of what cave means? Will this cave turn out 
to be a World War I gallery? 
I ask some questions, to get a clearer picture. Franco answers 
that there is a quite narrow and sloping passage that opens out 
into a deep pit. He does not want to give details about the 
location. The impulse of an explorer and scarcely hidden mistrust 
in giving information about 'his' cave are evident. 
I suggest that he should attend the annual caving course organised 
by the Gruppo Grotte Schio CAI, that is to take place next year in 
spring. This would allow him to take an active part in the 
exploration. 
Franco attends the caving course with great success, and some days 
after receiving his attendance certificate, he again proposes the 
exploration of the cave to the group. At the beginning of July 
1993 he leads a small team of cavers to get to know 'his' cave.  
Faced with the first pit numerous comments are made, veiled with 
scepticism: the location is on a Triassic dolomite, an area in 
which karst phenomena can occur only under particular conditions. 
We are on a woody mountainside, sloping for about 500 metres down 
to the last houses of Bosco di Tretto; there is no sign of a 
karstic plateau. It is indeed true that on the top of Mount 
Novegno there is what is called "la Busa", an enormous dolina; but 
it is quite far away, and the inclination of the layers does not 
look favourable. There is also a dolina caused by collapse nearby, 
but that does not make sense either. Nevertheless the cave is 
there and is worth visiting.  
Alessandro teaches the rigging techniques to Franco while the 
others talk in the open about nature, flowers, caving experiences 
and work, until the two riggers give the go-ahead signal for the 
descent. 
One after the other the 5 cavers let themselves down into the void 
below them; the pit starts off as a cylindrical tube, a couple of 
metres in diameter, roofed by a round dome. 
After some metres, the pit extends in every direction, especially 
at the two ends of a fracture that has visibly influenced the 
formation of the pit's shape. 
Then we descend into a wide chamber. Rock festoons break the 
verticality of the walls, and a copious stream of water runs out 
of a side niche, falling onto the explorer. At the back, a big, 
black crack seems to vanish into the void. 
The bottom is reached 50 metres below. Franco is over the moon 
with joy, he hears his companions' astonished remarks and rejoices 
at realising that their theories on dolomite, layers and all the 
rest have been seriously impaired. But there is more, the 
streamlet of water falls into a large pool that serves as a base 
for a second, 7 metre deep, pit. 
We descend this pit too, and immediately notice an interesting and 
practicable side meander, carved in the live rock, into which the 
small effluent of the pool flows. 
On the banks of what can be defined as a small lake we find the 
skeleton of a small carnivorous mammal. How did it work its way 
there? 
The walls at the base of this second pit are somewhat hollowed by 
the splashing action of the waterfall that, during the thaw should 
reach a considerable flow. 
On entering the meander the fever of exploration seizes every 
member of the expedition: Franco first, followed by Beppe, 
Alessandro, Fabiola who, thanks to her slender build succeeds in 
walking on the bottom and Leonardo, who manages to convince the 
mountain to let him through by strokes of a hammer. 
After a while, someone shouts: Abyss!!! Bring stones!i. 
An impressive abyss lies at the feet of the explorers. The stones 
fall whistling down, and the distant echo returns after five 
seconds. A quick calculation reveals a pit over 100 metres deep. 
After the congratulations with the discoverer of the cave, the 
comments full of praise and the promises of wine bottles to toast 
the pit, we decide to stop the exploration: there are 20 metres of 
rope left, and it is not worth spoiling the expectations. 
All theories have been completely demolished. And nobody can yet 
imagine how muc.  
A fighting-fit group of cavers, headed again by Franco, tackles 
the cave the following Saturday. 170 metres of rope are brought 
because 'one never knows'. 
The starting-point rigging is made, and Franco descends into the 
void with all the rope. The abyss is awesome. The pit is 
magnificent; a fantastic succession of pale layers of about one 
metre potency alternated with layers of greyish marl. The cross-
section of the pit is elliptical, as it has clearly developed 
along a large fracture cut into the mountain. 
Franco continues to descend into the void. The 100 metre long rope 
is finished. He adds the 70-metre rope and starts descending 
again.  
At -140 metres a small ledge can be seen: Franco decides to reach 
it and thinks about what to do. Below the ledge, the pit 
continues, black, vast, and still vertical. He throws the 
'prophetic' stone that gives the response: the rope is not long 
enough! 
Beppe, Alessandro, Fabiola and Cesare reach Franco on the 
'thrilling' ledge and from there more stones are thrown into the 
black abyss. The estimations are quite contradictory, but 
everybody is convinced that they are faced with an extraordinary 
natural phenomenon. Somebody compares the pit with the Mexican 
'Sotanos', others with the Venezuelan Tepuy quartzite shafts. On 
the ledge there is also Fabiola Escalante, a young Peruvian woman 
who had also attended the caving lessons that year. In her honour 
the pit is unanimously named 'Machu Picchu', a wonder from the 
depth of the millenniums. 
Giorgio, who had remained on the top of the pit owing to lack of 
room on the ledge, decides to get out, since he has the impression 
that the flow of the streamlet which falls into the large pool at 
the base of the second pit has increased. 
The five cavers on the ledge decide that they will return the 
following Saturday, and start to climb back up. Once they arrive 
in the open air, they find an eerie atmosphere. In a black and 
ghostly night, heavy rain is pouring down over the mountain, and a 
blustery wind violently shakes the beeches and firs, stirring the 
patches of dense fog. Lightnings repeatedly strike the peaks with 
tremendous force.  
Stories of witchcraft and demons that are told on the nearby Buso 
di Vaccaresse come to everybody's minds. Maybe the demons 
themselves are letting loose their wrath on the men who dare to 
violate their realm. 
Giorgio has disappeared, and so have Alessandro and Fabiola's 
rucksacks. Giorgio must have taken them and gone to the cars, as 
the car-keys are in Alessandro's rucksack . 
The explorers of the abyss climb the sheer mountain slope, 
completely surrounded by the storm. After a half-hour march, 
soaked to the skin with ice-cold water, they reach the cars. 
Giorgio is not there. Franco, Beppe and Cesare decide to reach 
Malga Novegno to see if Giorgio has taken shelter there. 
Alessandro and Fabiola remain to keep guard on the place, running 
up and down the road in the pouring rain, to keep warm. Giorgio is 
not at Malga Novegno either, but there is another possibility: 
Malga Campedello, which they reach in the jeep belonging to Malga 
Novegno. At last the missing member is found, refreshed and 
comforted by a chance group of the Good Samaritans. Unfortunately 
Giorgio does not have the rucksacks. Therefore, they have to go 
back immediately and collect Alessandro and Fabiola, who by this 
time are at the end of their tether. The whole group goes down to 
the valley leaving Alessandro's car, to be recovered later 
together with the rucksacks that had rolled down the mountain due 
to the blustery wind. All's well that ends well. 
The following day a series of phone calls bring the caving group 
in on the new discoveries, arousing general enthusiasm. The need 
for materials to continue the exploration is pointed out. 
Unfortunately, the rope store is all immobilised in the 'Abyss of 
Malga Fossetta', in the 'Buso della Neve di Zingarella' and in 
some other caves still under exploration. New purchases are 
urgently required. 
The best cavers of the CAI-Schio compete to be one of the party, 
as a painful selection is necessary to reduce the waiting time of 
the reascent. Franco Reghellin and Beppe Tomiello, inseparable 
friends during and after the course, are in the list, together 
with Alessandro Landi, Norberto Marzaro, Davide Marchioro, Franco 
Gramola and Luca Tollardo, another member of the course. 
The rope that had been left the time before is pulled out and the 
pit is re-rigged with 200 metres of brand-new rope. 
The cavers descend the abyss one belay after the other. A split in 
the shaft is ignored, a large black hole is tested using a stone. 
It will wait. 
The new rope is not long enough. More rope is added, and finally 
the base of the pit is reached. It is large, with enormous 
boulders leaning against the wall that seem as though they want to 
hinder the explorers' way. The boulders are climbed, and the 170 
metres of rope which had been pulled out from the top of the Machu 
Picchu are taken too. 
A black hole, as scary as a dragon's throat, seems to swallow the 
stones that are thrown into another pit of impressive dimensions. 
Solid anchorages are made and once again the cavers descend into 
the void. 100 metres, 150 metres, 170 metres ... the rope is 
finished, the walls are far away and a palpable black darkness is 
below us. The man, this tiny spider, can only swallow his trail 
and go back up to meet his friends again. The abyss has got the 
better of us once again, another worrisome discovery. And this is 
the fourth outing. This time Mirco Calgaro joins the group of the 
usual explorers. Once again we rig the second pit without 
belaying, as the distance of the walls does not allow it. Stones 
moved accidentally at the top of the pit graze the explorers like 
snarling bullets. The bottom is touched, more than 200 metres 
below. The descending draught that has accompanied the explorers 
here scorns the choke at the bottom and disappears into up-to-now 
unpracticable cracks. 
Two pits over 200 metres deep, one after the other. The biggest 
verticals in the region of Veneto have been shattered. The first 
pit of the 'Spaluga della Preta', the 'Abisso 1o. dei Granari di 
Zingarella', the 'Abisso dei tre ingressi di Campo Rossignolo', 
the first and second pits of the 'Abisso di Lusiana', 
the 'Abisso 3o. di Zingarella'... all yesterday's myths 
will disappear into oblivion. 
In three pits a 450 metres depth is overtaken. On the Novegno, in 
dolomite, on the external slope of the mountain. It's incredible! 
The first, true abyss in the town-boundaries of Schio. 
Now the other holes will have to be reached and explored and the 
split of the Machu Picchu will be descended. The fissures at the 
bottom will be pushed and the survey will have to be completed. 
And this is but the beginning, as the how and why such an abyss 
has formed will have to be analysed and understood. And will it be 
the only one ? 
Franco has really made a fantastic discovery, and has deflated all 
hypotheses and everything of which we all were sure. 
 
HOW TO REACH THE ABYSS 
The 'Abisso di Monte Novegno' is situated in the higher part of 
the mountain that could be called Schio's, since Schio lies at its 
foot. Schio is a town in Italy, in the Venetian region, in the 
province of Vicenza, 25 km north of this town. 
Note: Given the difficulty in finding the entrance, it is 
advisable to contact someone who knows the way to be accompanied. 
 
GEOLOGICAL NOTE 
Mount Novegno is but one of the tops of the massif which contains 
the abyss.  
The top area therefore includes several peaks, the most important 
and distinct being Mount Novegno (1548 a.s.l), Mount Rione (1691 
a.s.l.), Mount Caliano (1622 a.s.l), Further north are Mount 
Priafora' (1659 a.s.l.) and M. Giove (1595 a.s.l.). 
The whole massif is made up of dolomite rocks (main dolomia), with 
the exception of the peaks of the a.m. tops, where grey limestone 
outcrops, having thicknesses varying from some dozens metres to a 
maximum of 150 metres, are present. 
The layers of emerged limestone are solid and slightly sloping 
towards East; they are much stratified, reaching a one-metre 
potency (Mount Caliano, Mount Priafora'). Superficial karst 
phenomena are not generally much diffused, with the exception of 
some areas with some well defined limestone outcrops and some 
dolines. Very interesting and worth mentioning is the largest 
dolina, called 'la Busa del Novegno', which generates a dell of 3-
400 metres diameter, in which there is a Malga and vast fields for 
cattlee grazing. 
Deep karst phenomena were, before discovery of the abyss, almost 
completely unknown. Not more than 5 or 6 cavities - modest caves 
with pits not deeper than a dozen metres.- are registered. 
As a consequence of the discovery of the abyss, the massif has 
attracted the attention of the whole group, soon resulting in new 
findings. At the moment, we are working on half a dozen new 
cavities, some of which are very interesting. 
Good results are therefore in sight: we hope that the future there 
will have more surprises in store, though it will be difficult to 
repeat the 1993 exploit. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE CAVITY 
The description of the cave cannot be but brief. The only 
horizontal stretches are the small entrance passage, 3 metre long, 
and a short, 6 metre long meander; that's all! Not a lot for an 
abyss that almost reaches 500 meters depth. But this is its 
peculiarity. 
The entrance is located, as already said, close to a steep 
mountainside at 1470 metres a.s.l. The narrow entrance half-hidden 
among the grass is 40 cm in diametre and leads to a narrow gently 
sloping passage, whose walls seem to have been generated in the 
conglomerate. Actually the rock has been crumbled by the cryologic 
action in the course of severe winter seasons. The rock, in fact, 
consolidates (turns solid) straightaway after only three metres. 
At this point the conduit gives way to a sheer vertical pit 50 
metres deep. 
The pit, which at first is not very large, enlarges considerably 
only seven metres below its mouth. The end of a small-sized 
meander, run through by a thin rivulet, can be seen on the 
opposite wall. 
After a 25 metre descent in the void which gets larger and larger 
you realise that the union of two big fusoid shafts accounts for 
the huge size of the pit (you realise that the pit has enlarged so 
much because it is the result of the union of two big bells). 
We go down the further 25 metres close to the wall under a thin 
trickle of water. 
One metre from the vertical of the pit, the entrance of another 
small pit 7 metre deep departs. 
The bottom of the latter small drop is almost completely taken up 
by a pool of water fed by the rivulet built up at the bottom of 
the P. 50. 
It is interesting to note, two metres above the bottom of this 
pit, of a one metre layer of very solid grey marl which affects 
the whole circumference of the pit and which has been completely 
broken (and dissolved?) during the genesis of this section of the 
cave. Scanty traces of such marly rock protrude from the pool of 
water. The remainder must have been washed away by the rivulet 
which leaves the pool and threads its way at the bottom of a 
narrow and high meander heading south. 
This section of horizontal cave six metres long ends in the 
darkness of a deep pit. It is the top of the big drop called 
'Machu Picchu' 220 metres deep. 
This large sheer vertical pit is of a remarkable size from the 
very beginning with an 8 metre cross-section which is almost 
perfectly circular. The section remains uniform and increases its 
dimensions all the way to - 70 metres where there is a belay. At 
this point you come into contact with a wall of the pit level with 
an area affected by jagged rock. This peculiarity makes it 
tiresome during reclimbing since ones legs end up in the gaps, up 
to one metre deep, between one tooth and the other. 
The cross-section increases its size further becoming roughly 
triangular with sides of approx. 15 metres. 
After a further 70 metre descent and having got over two more 
belays we reach the only small ledge in this drop (2x1.5 metres). 
Here we are at -140 from the top of the pit (pothole) and -200 
from the entrance. At this point a thin rocky screen divides the 
pit into two sections. The section heading north, after a 15 
metres drop, comes to an end showing a flat rubble-choked bottom. 
Back again on the ledge to continue the descent we walk along the 
ridge of the rocky screen as far as the opposite wall making use 
of a rope handrail. 
The pit from now on presents smaller dimensions and is slightly 
inclined with a roughly triangular section. 
We reach the bottom after 80 metres vertical descent and after 
getting over four intermediate belays. 
It is clear that the whole vertical is laid on a huge diaclase 
heading N-S. The bottom of the drop, slightly funnel-shaped, is 
covered with rubble on one side and with clay on the other. 
Bearing north, on the diaclase axis, after ascending five metre 
wall (unamovable rope, left on the spot) we reach the entrance of 
another huge drop, the Tempest, 203 metres deep. 
Since the entrance is level with the anastomose of the two big 
fusoid shafts, it is rather narrow, approx. 40 - 50 cm. in width. 
Right after one metre and a half descent, the chamber reaches a 
considerable size; at this point the section becomes elliptical 
with axes of 10x5 metres. High up the huge fusoid shaft fades away 
into the darkness for about 50 metres at least.  
Fourteen metres from the starting point there is the first belay. 
Here part of the pit section shifts back beneath the bottom of the 
Machu Picchu, and you can actually see some boulders blocking the 
base of the previous drop. 
In this part of the cave the rock is still made up of dolomite; 
however its consistency and fracturing make it very brittle so you 
must beware of rockfall. 
Three more belays, the last of which is much exposed, allow us to 
get close to a narrow rocky edge, slightly jutting out, which we 
call "ledge". We are exactly 50 metres from the starting point of 
the Tempesta (Storm). From this spot to the bottom the pit is 
still perfectly vertical for 153 more metres. To break up its 
verticality, but above all to make ascending easier, we were able 
to belay after 40 metres. We did not manage to belay the remaining 
drop since the rope falls right in the middle of the fusoid shaft. 
The main feature of the Tempest is that it is a fantastic, 
perfectly sheer shaft, which keeps its elliptical section all the 
way to the bottom. However this section becomes quite peculiar 
half-way down, in fact, for a long fraction of 80 metres it takes 
up a shape similar to the nib of an old ink pen. Actually the 
major axis of the section splits into two parallel fractures, 
approx. 3 metres far away from each other, giving rise to a 
perfectly flat strip of wall. Towards the bottom such peculiarity 
disappears and the section becomes elliptical again. The 
dimensions of the base of the drop, seven metres by four are the 
smallest of the whole pit. 
Among the boulders heaped up on the bottom, a narrow opening has 
been enlarged. It allowed us to go down the last three metres. 
Here we are exactly at - 478 metres from the entrance and about 10 
metres from its vertical. 
 
CONCLUSIONS. 
The abyss has been completely rigged using standard twin expanding 
sectors fixes. It would not be a bad idea to replace some 
intermediate belays (or to remove a few) particularly in the first 
50 metres of the Tempest. The regime of the cave is practically 
absent but for the pool of water at the base of P. 7 and a few 
fractions where the trickle can become considerable especially 
during the thaw. 
We advise cavers who may want to explore the abyss that there 
should not be more than 4-5 of them venturing in it at the same 
time. This for two reasons: first, to reduce the obvious waiting 
time at the bottom of the two drops during ascending; secondly, to 
limit the risk of rockfall in the Tempest (hence the name.....) 
since on its bottom there are no safe shelters. 
Some holes looking on to the Machu Picchu were reached but the 
upshot turned out to be unfavourable: the huge pit has taken up 
everything! 
By the way, is it a single vertical or not? This is the situation: 
The Machu Picchu and the Tempest are two distinct fusoid shafts, 
whose axes are not on the same vertical even if they are surely 
laid on a single huge diaclase which generated them. Adding up the 
two verticals the outcome is a drop of 418 metres (sure and 
definate measurement). Whether it is a single drop or not is 
subjective and of little importance. 
The only sure thing is that reaching the bottom of the abyss of 
Mount Novegno is above all a memorable experience. 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
For any question contact 
Alessandro Landi 
Gruppo Grotte Schio - CAI 
Via Rossi, 8 
36015 Schio (Vi) - Italy 
Telephone & Fax : 0445-525755 
E-Mail : Compuserve 100525,555; Internet 100525.555@compuserve.com