Rainy end of the year at Lake Garda
Team: Anke, Ben, Wilke, Guy, Max, Tobi
2017 was a rainy year for Cavebase. So the project at the Vis in May, after much preparation and hauling had to be canceled due to rain and rapidly deteriorating conditions.
In late summer we had a similar situation and the targeted caves were not diveable due to rain and the team had to move to Lake Garda for diving.
But for the end of the year we wanted to dive caves in Valstagna again. With 4-5h journey from Munich, the caves are also suitable for a short trip. But all rain things are three and set the rain before Christmas, so that between Christmas and New Year's Eve the conditions were so bad that diving was no longer to think. After we had learned to appreciate Lake Garda (at a similar distance as Valstagna) as a training lake with optimal conditions - 10°C water temperature, good visibility, breathtaking walls and depths for every experience level - for scooter and TMX training dives, we decided to go to Lake Garda for the second time at short notice.
On the day of arrival, the first hurdle turned out to be the burner, because the later the team members left, the more difficult the conditions on the road became. At Lake Garda, the snow had turned into rain and so we decided to end the first day without diving in the hotel's spa.
On the first day the sun came out and in perfect conditions (cold is just part of winter) we dived in two teams at the sports harbor in Riva del Garda. Dive time was about 90 minutes for both teams. Max and Tobi reached a depth of about 80m. Anke, Ben Wilke and Guy were content with 30m.
To get a little cave feeling, we wanted to dive the crack on the second day. This can be reached by scooter from the dive site Tempesta. The whole group scootered with our XK1 and SF2 / JJ /Kiss for the breathing gas preparation towards south in search of the crack. Wilke and Tobi went the farthest with 45 minutes but neither they nor the other dive teams found anything. So all resurfaced after 100 minutes. Enthusiastic about the dive spot it was quickly clear that the last word regarding crack is not yet spoken.
Since New Year's Eve was just around the corner, we left it at the two dives and made our way back in the evening or the next morning.
This was certainly not our last visit to Lake Garda. However, we all hope that in 2018 we will go to Lake Garda specifically and it will not be the fallback solution because of bad cave conditions....
To all of you a good start into the new year and have fun diving. Maybe we will meet at the lake or at the cave.
In this sense,
Your Cavebase
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