21.05.2024 – 07.01 – From the caves of prehistory, to the cave dedicated to the God Mithras, to the frantic search for water in the nineteenth-century period with the first, great, scientific expeditions, arriving at the black tragedies of the twentieth century: one cannot write about the Karst of Trieste without mentioning its labyrinthine underground. And without mentioning his modern priest, his intermediary with the depths: him speleologist. If the first speleologists of the Victorian age were in Trieste either students or academics or even professionals (lawyers, journalists, teachers, bureaucrats), today the scene has evolved, while retaining that character of an impetuous passion that flows underground – like the Timavo – at work every day.
But what does a speleologist do? And how can you approach this profession? The president of the company tells us about it Adriatic Society of Speleology (SAS) Marco Restainooutlining the depths of this discipline.
How would you define a speleologist? What profession does it involve?
The speleologist is first and foremost a curious person; to discover, to see beyond what exists on the surface. It doesn’t hurt that he is also a deep person, interested in the natural, exploratory and scientific realm. In fact, unlike cave experts, the speleologist dedicates himself to carrying out research, to bringing elements of public interest outside the caves, to supporting scientific research with his own explorations. On the other hand, he is the only qualified person, able to descend into those depths and bring out useful scientific data.
Often, those who are not familiar with speleology wonder why they should explore caves, especially the most dangerous ones…
The charm of the unknown, undoubtedly. Not everyone manages to reach similar places; the speleologist feels like one of the ‘lucky ones’ who reaches places unexplored until today. The skills required by a speleologist involve considerable doses of courage; just think of the idea of ’lowering’ into the void with ropes. It’s unnatural, it’s counter-intuitive; the idea of hanging for hours, without even having a handhold, for several hours, one’s life entrusted to a single thin rope.
A sport, in many respects, similar to that of mountaineering…
I actually distance myself from this comparison. There are certainly points in common, but mountaineering is something that is done for oneself, with the idea of conquering the summit. But we know of the existence of that peak, we can see it on Google Maps, in many cases others preceded us; it is not an unexplored place. Mountaineering is a challenge with oneself; speleology, on the other hand, through this ‘wanting to overcome limits’ aims to literally bring scientific data out of the cave. A photograph, the observation of a species, a sample of water, of rock…
What kind of physical preparation does speleology involve? Which sports should be combined?
Personally I haven’t done other sports; I grew up physically within this world. It is important to know how to measure your tiredness and know your limits; we start with a ten, fifteen meter cave; or on a rock gym to become familiar with the movements. Those who climb, in mountaineering, hold the rock, ‘feel’ it; the speleologist, on the other hand, places the ropes far from the walls, because the rock is often unstable and dangerous. It could collapse suddenly, the rock is ‘an enemy’ for the speleologist. One foot resting on the wall is enough; however the hands and the other foot remain free.
What was the first cave you explored?
The first encounter with the cave was with the school; Since I was a child I was interested in the world of nature. Amphibians, reptiles, insects and so on. In this context I soon became acquainted with the Proteus through the Speleovivarium; At the time I went to the cave to get the shrimp needed to feed it. I therefore familiarized myself with the environment of the caves, then moving on to exploring the excavations of the same.
And is the cave more dangerous?
In a cave, at eighteen, I lost a kidney. A rock came loose from the wall, hit me on the side and, after I managed to get out on my own, they operated on me in the hospital. Be careful, though. The cave itself was no more dangerous than the others; rather, an unexpected event had occurred. The caves themselves are all dangerous: certainly those open to tourism are ‘made safe’, but natural caves are full of unexpected events. Caving is in fact a high-risk discipline.
The second case instead occurred in the Lufftloch cave, during excavations in search of the Timavo: at 750 meters deep we realized that the oxygen values in the air had decreased to unsustainable levels. We got back up just in time; if we had panicked and breathed too fast we would have risked dying.
The caves being explored offer the greatest risks: concretions that seem thousands of years old but are instead stuck with mud, sudden landslides, water courses and so on.
What is the difference between the speleologist and the speleo diver?
Speleo diving requires great underwater preparation and a love for speleological exploration. These are infrequent factors; finding them combined is very rare. The preparation must be exceptional, because a single mistake costs a life. The diver can always rise to the surface and know that he will find light and air; the cave diver, on the other hand, cannot go back easily, he can only use the line as a guide to safety. The safest underwater speleo exploration is in fact the one carried out with a single person, because if one person is in difficulty, the companion also dies in an attempt to save him. It is no coincidence that the equipment is always redundant: they have multiple safety systems, for example four valves, two snorkels, etc. etc.
Extreme exploration for extreme environments.
How many speleological associations are there in FVG?
The Friuli Venezia Giulia Region has around twenty associations that receive public funding. However, there are many microgroups and associations now reduced to just a few members. In Trieste there are about ten associations; some now with two, three people and finally five or six who still work hard, with a strong generational turnover.
What relations do you have with Austria and Slovenia?
The Austrian territory does not have many caves; despite the proximity there are no major activities. The collaboration with the Slovenians is ‘historic’ and continues: with Sesana, Divaccia, with the Karst Research Center in Postumia… We often help each other.
How can you start caving with SAS?
Anyone can come and visit us on Thursday evening, at the headquarters in Via Rossetti 59/A, from 9pm onwards. We explain what we do, the activities and if motivated you can accompany us to the cave or attend special courses. We run two different courses; one for ‘normal’ speleology, towards autumn; and another for urban speleology, for example for those who want to explore the bunkers or the Theresian aqueduct.
From a social point of view we work very well with the Facebook page, but we are also preparing for short videos aimed at Tik Tok and Instagram
What are the initial costs? Many extreme sports have quite high costs…
It is actually a very economical activity; just sign up to the Speleological Group to get insurance. With SAS it’s 75 euros per year. The courses cost around 120 euros for the entire ‘package’. The company then lends equipment during early exploration; only later do you buy the helmet, the suit and so on. Four hundred euros, just to be generous; and it’s all material that lasts several years.
However, SAS is also interested in urban speleology…
Urban speleology was born with the need to bring ‘our techniques’ during the archaeological excavations of Trieste. Only a professional such as a speleologist knows, for example, how to lower himself with ropes into the void. Many purists despise urban speleology, they even call us ‘sewer workers’. But for SAS it is fundamental, because when we talk about water, this is as much karst as it is of the urban subsoil. Theresian aqueduct docet, for example. The layers are studied exactly as in natural cave speleology.
What is still unexplored beneath Trieste?
98% everything was found. Of this 2%, it is worth highlighting the presence of the springs at the small port of Cedas; according to reliable maps, through which we know the relief of the tunnel, we know that there was enough fresh water to supply ships in the eighteenth century. Yet we find nothing. Perhaps the widening of the road blocked the springs.
Furthermore, we do not find a gallery located in San Giovanni. It was a tunnel that supplied the Teresian Aqueduct with a pipe up to Capofonte. Despite its length – 90 meters – we cannot locate it.
Furthermore, under the castle of San Giusto there were counter-mine tunnels (from 1600) according to rather fragmented testimonies. Then there are a couple of bunkers that we cannot find, respectively in via Virgilio (Scorcola area) and one in the upper area of via dell’Eremo.
Are there connections between the different underground sections of Trieste?
In general the war undergrounds are very limited, there are no long distance connections. The bunkers and tunnels built were separated from each other.
The covered streams, on the other hand, have a fairly important network. It is possible to enter at San Giovanni and exit at Rozzol; or enter Rozzol and exit in Piazza Oberdan. I wouldn’t recommend it, though; these are sewer environments.
What are the great unexplored territories outside the Trieste Karst?
A third of the emerged land is karst. There are still boundless areas where karst phenomena have never been explored: caves in China, Vietnam, Mexico that are still virgin. Of course, the classical Karst is full of caves; however, beyond the local scope, exploration still remains to be done. China, in my opinion, is the most promising territory: the Chinese have not yet developed large speleological organizations.
Speleologist profession. But, alas, you can’t live on caves alone. What are the possible professional opportunities?
There aren’t many roads. There is certainly a register of speleological guides, aimed at cave professionals; upon payment they accompany people into natural caves, not equipped for tourist visits. However, it is a niche, it is difficult to live there.
There is a lot of speleology involved in working at high altitudes: construction, painting, roof repairs, securing construction sites, repairing power lines… They use the same tools as speleologists in terms of ropes, winches, etc. etc.
[La Società Adriatica di Speleologia di Trieste (SAS), costituita nel 1980, ha come scopo lo studio e la diffusione delle scienze connesse alla speleologia, al carsismo, alla ricerca sulle cavità naturali ed artificiali. La Società gestisce dal 1990 lo Speleovivarium Erwin Pichl, riconosciuto come museo dalla regione Friuli Venezia Giulia e dal 1974 la grotta n. 17 VG, meglio nota come ‘Abisso di Trebiciano’. La sede è in via Domenico Rossetti, 59/a, 34141 ed è contattabile presso [email protected]]
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