River at the Center of the Earth

By Tullio Bernabei - Produced by Fantastificio and Tullio Bernabei – 2011

TEASER

Two young men digging

Marco Restaino: “Shhhhh... Listen Piero. Do you hear it? That’s it! Dig, dig!”

TITLE

Hunting for the Night River

Grottenarbeiter at work on the walls in the dark

Title card: The Chasm of San Canziano, 1839

Luca Krall does not suffer from vertigo and he is not scared of the dark. His job is to explore caves.

He doesn’t know that he’s a speleologist, because speleology has not been invented yet. They call him grottenbeiter, cave workers.

He works at the bottom of a huge abyss where a mysterious river sinks into the dark.

For two hundred years, man’s dream has remained the same: follow the dark route of the water. A story of impossible challenges; the main characters are yesterday’s grottenarbeiters and today’s speleologists.

Comments modern characters

Marco Restaino: “The Timavo is a dream - a dream that we are trying to make true, one step at a time.”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “No one knows yet exactly where it flows”

Roberto Prelli: “As long as our strength holds out, I think we’ll hang in there”

Marco Restaino: “If you don’t have a fire burning inside, a passion…”

Roberto Prelli: “And the passion is very strong”

Marco Restaino: “And it takes us farther and farther down”

Marco and Pietro’s comments

Marco Restaino: “In these situations, danger is always right around the corner”

Piero Slava: “There are obviously risks, but we go anyway”

Roberto Prelli: “We’ll always come back, we’ll always be here, every Saturday”

Other images of the present and past

While today, the urge that pushes these men to risk their lives is the irresistible allure of exploration, in the early 1800’s, the motivation was another.

A very real need: water.

Skocjan/San Canziano,

sinkhole, karst, gulf and springs, underground rapids etc..

Small springs scattered throughout the woods on the western side of Mount Sneznik in Slovenia are the origin of the Reka Timavo river. The flow of the waters increases in the Slovenian territory, until disappearing underground near San Canziano Abyss. Here the river slips underground to begin its long journey in the dark. An unknown voyage of over 37 miles, which today unites two nations, Slovenia and Italy, passing under the woods of the Karst and near the city of Trieste, before flowing into the Adriatic Sea.

TRIESTE AND WATER

Paintings Triest 1800s

By the early nineteenth century, Trieste has become the commercial port for the Austrian Empire. An important city: it counts over 20,000 residents and is in full urban expansion. And it needs water. Summer droughts create dramatic situations and frequent arguments at fountains.

Teresiano Aqueduct and a plumber checking it out

Title Card: Teresiano Aqueduct. Trieste, 1820

The Teresiano Aqueduct, built in the mid-1700s, on the site of an ancient Roman aqueduct, has clearly become insufficient.

Its flow is minimal and frequent small collapses compromise its flow. In some areas, the artificial tunnel is actually transforming into a cave. Nature reclaims its territory.

Water Commission Officials

To try and resolve the problem, the City government creates the Water Commission.

The most logical solution seems to be to collect water from where it flows in large quantities: in the San Canziano sinkhole.

Entrance San Canziano with waterfall

But extracting it from the bottom of the immense chasm, over 650 feet [200 meters] below the ground, is an impractical operation. Both for the exorbitant cost, as well as for the fact that in periods of drought, when water is needed the most, the flow of the Reka Timavo river is less than the requirement.

The waters remain abundant only in the mysterious depths of the Karst.

CG 1: 13” course Reka Timavo

From the large chasm the path of the Reka Timavo river, long roughly 25 miles as the crow flies, lays unknown: all we know is that the river returns above ground at San Giovanni Duino along the Adriatic Sea and that it must run around Trieste.

Water Commission

Therefore the Water officials know that the only possible solution is to intercept the Reka Timavo river farther downhill, by digging a tunnel under the Karst. The problem is that no one knows exactly where the mysterious river flows.

Except for Federico Lindner.

LINDNER (part one)

Lindner and farmer

In 1838, Antonio Federico Lindner, a young mining engineer, began a systematic exploration of the Karst.

Discovery of hole

A Trebiciano farmer led him to a “dolina", a sinkhole, a typical depression in this plateau, where there is a hole that blows a small waft of air.

CG 2: 23” piena Reka e spinta aria verso superficie

During the intense rains, the Reka Timavo pours large volumes of water into the San Canziano cave. The sinkhole goes down into the depths of the Karst creating a sort of piston effect: as it passes into the large caves, it compresses the air. When the underground crevices are connected to the surface, the air finds an opening and it’s blown out violently.

Lindner

This is the proof that Lindner has been looking for.

Lindner presents his project

A year later, the mining engineer requests a hearing before the Water Commission. He is certain he’s found the right cave to reach the flow of the Timavo, but excavations are expensive. The officials, worried about the failure possibility, decide to wait and do not finance the project.

It is a huge disappointment for Lindner, but anyway he decides to go on by himself.

Wagon on the Karst

Title Card: Around Trebiciano. Trieste, 1840

Setting up camp

The engineer hires some cave workers, in German grottenarbeiters, among whom Antonio Arich, a miner, and a young man named Luca Kral, who lives in the nearby village of Trebiciano.

Grottenarbeiters working

The cave work is not very different from mining work. The difference is that the grottenarbeiters are not searching for precious metals, but water.

More digging and preparation of the mine

With their own brute strength, the men break through narrow cracks descending to ever greater depths. The course of the Timavo cannot be far. Sometimes, explosives are needed to move forward: it is a risky operation in those conditions, but there is no choice.

Lindner out

MODERN GROUPS (beginning)

Marco in car

Title card: Trebiciano. Trieste, 2008

Marco Restaino: “I’m Marco, this is my Panda, it’s a bit packed with working gears, but here there is everything we would need to try and reach the final goal, the Timavo” (Banner: Marco Restaino – Adriatic Speleology Society)

Marco Restaino in Panda

Marco Restaino is 27 years old and is a construction worker. Whenever he has a free afternoon, he goes up to the Karst, in the Trebiciano area, where he works toward his dream.

Marco and friends

Sergio and Piero are waiting for him. Sergio Dambrosi is their speleological and spiritual father, the man who conveyed his passion to them. Piero Slama, age 28, has been Marco’s faithful companion in adventure since when they were young.

Marco and Piero reach the entrance

They’ve been digging a vertical hole for ten years and now they feel close to a great discovery. The clothing and equipment are different, but the spirit is same of the grottenarbeiters. Two centuries later, they are trying as well to reach the hidden river: the Timavo.

Commentary about the Timavo by Marco and Piero

Piero: “Ah, the Timavo…”

Marco: “The Timavo…”

Piero: “Actually it’s true, it’s a dream to get down there and find a cave that reaches the Timavo” (Banner: Piero Slama – Adriatic Speleological Society)

Marco: “It’s perhaps the most important goal that you can hope for if you’re a speleologist from Trieste”

Aerial shots

Not far from Marco and Piero, other river hunters are in action.

Roberto Prelli in his car

Title card: Fernetti Customs. Trieste, 2008

Roberto Prelli: “Right now we’re crossing the old border with the former Yugoslavia, now Slovenia”

Preparation in the cabin

And it is here, along this old border, erased by history, that the members of the Eugenio Boegan Cave Commission, the oldest speleological group in the world, have set up their base camp. Although they’ve made important underground discoveries in many countries, they have never stopped being grottenarbeiters close to home.

Prelli in his car pulling up to the cabin

Roberto Prelli: “I work nearby the cave where we’ve been working for several years and where I was able to place a cabin, a prefabricated building, where we store our things; and here we are”

(Banner: Roberto Prelli –E. Boegan Cave Commission)

They exit the cabin

They never go down in fewer than 3; some more some less, they are not teenager anymore. But the enthusiasm and conviction are ageless.

Bosco

Bosco (Natale Bone): “Last Saturday was the one hundred and thirteenth time we did this in two and a half years, so if you do the math, you see that we are here almost every Saturday.”

(Banner: Natale Bone (aka Bosco) - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

They start off and enter

They are also in search of the legendary underwater river. Exactly like Marco and Piero, in a sort of race against time… and against the age!

Prelli

Roberto Prelli: “By now, three of us are 70 years old. I think that this cave is… let’s call it the swan song, the cave where we try to truly leave our mark, with the discovery of the Timavo.”

Guidi

Pino Guidi: “It’s mysterious. The studies carried out up to twenty years ago said that the river went on for roughly 25 miles underground. Now we know it’s nearly 50 miles… so we really know nothing about this river.”

(Banner: Pino Guidi - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

Descent in Fernetti

In the quest for the hidden river, no one wants to give up, today just like two centuries ago…

Grottenarbeiter at the dead-end

Title Card: Trebiciano Cave, -230 ft, 1841

Despite enormous efforts, fatigue and risks, hopes suddenly seem to crumble in a closed crevice. A dead-end where no air movement is felt, and it is extremely difficult to dig.

Lindner decides to go down

When Lindner finds out that the digging can no longer proceed, he is greatly frustrated. This is impossible: the air must be coming from somewhere! The engineer is left with only one chance: to go and see for himself.

BREAK 1

LINDNER (part two)

RECALL video

The mining engineer, Federico Lindner, with the aid of his cave workers, the grottenarbeiters, has been digging for several months in the Trebiciano Cave in the hopes of reaching the underground flow of the Reka Timavo river, and finally bringing water to the city of Trieste.

However work comes to a halt at 230 feet [70 meters] below ground in a dead end, which seems to dash all hopes.

Lindner arrives with workers

Title card: Trebiciano cave, -230 ft, 1841

Lindner goes down with his men to assess the situation, he only has one card left to play: air!

Lindner discovers window

The strong draft that is felt above ground during the underground swells shows a connection with the river: it is therefore imperative to find the air flow, however weak. The solution is hidden in the flame.

Lindner climbs up

The flame of the oil lamp is drawn towards a window in the wall. His intuition is right: the air is coming from there. The way to the Timavo has been re-opened!

Piling nail

Even if the hardship is not over and fatigue has begun to set in, the grottenarbeiter’s descent continues quickly.

Discovery of last well

They have by now reached over 650 feet [200 meters]in depth when in front of Luca Kral, a new well opens up.

Lindner’s descent with ladder

Title Card: Trebiciano Cave, - 820 ft, 7 April 1841

After 5 months of backbreaking work, the long-awaited moment has arrived.

Lindner summons all of his strength to face the descent into a large well, 130 feet deep, using a precarious rope ladder.

Lindner’s arrival

His trusty grottenarbeiters, whom he has asked to illuminate the large cave as much as possible with torches and candles, wait for him on the sandy floor.

The walk of the three towards the river

The large underground chamber, thus reveals its gigantic dimensions: an empty space roughly 500 feet [150 meters] long, 200 feet [60 meters] wide and 260 feet [80 meters] high. A cathedral in the dark.

It is a long descent towards a giant landslide. The sound of running water is heard in the distance, but large hills of sand and rocks obscure the view…

Arrival at the River

Near the river, Luca lights a magnesium flashlight. Finally the waters of the Timavo. In 1841 this was the deepest cave in the world…

Discovery Beetle

Lindner is certain of his discovery, but is nonetheless searching for irrefutable proof. That tiny beetle, the Pteròstichus, also lives above ground in the Reka Timavo valley, 25 miles up. Finding it here is the biological proof that the waters are coming from up there, and that he has reached the hidden river.

Water Commission Meeting

Tired and in poor health, Lindner brings the new maps of his discoveries to the Water Commission. His instinct was dead-on: that cave in Trebiciano was the right way. The legendary Timavo runs down below. But the mining engineer cannot hide some bad news from the water officials.

Measuring the depth of the river

He carried out precise depth measurements which indicated the river runs exactly 1079.3 feet [329 meters] below the surface at just 39 feet (12 meters) above sea level.

CG 3: Trebiciano

Months of hard work, risks and suffering; tons of ladders and wood to descend over 980 feet [300 meters] into the solid rock to a large underground cave. It is the sweetest dream pursued by generations of men, but at the same time, it is a great disappointment: the waters of the river run too low to be diverted to Trieste. The city is at a higher altitude.

Water Commission Meeting

Anyway, Lindner does not give in. He proposes a new plan to the Water Commission: the construction of an underground dam that would raise the level of the river, which would then be channelled up with a 3 mile [5 km] long tunnel.

Floor with siphon

In fact, at the floor of the Trebiciano Cave, there is a large siphon where the river plunges under the ceiling. There, according to Lindner, they could raise a barrier and create a deep underground lake.

Water Commission Meeting

But the public officials are skeptical. If the first project had seemed risky and expensive, this one was even more! The Commission decides to take its time, but essentially, Lindner’s proposal is denied.

Lindner on his deathbed with letter

Title card: Trieste, 10 September 1841

The restless engineer spent all of his wealth in search of the underground river. He discovered the deepest cave in the world, which would remain such for 70 years, but he is plagued by debt.

When the administrative office asks him to quantify a reimbursement for his expenses, the explorer replies: “… an exhausting four-year project… a waste of money that has absorbed all my savings and threatens the well-being of my family… these efforts have destroyed my health… all of my requests for this sacrifice are aimed to assure my family a future without worries…”

He requests 58,000 florins, that is not an unreasonable figure but Antonio Federico Lindner dies 9 days later, at the age of only 40, before receiving an answer. To obtain the minimum compensation, his widow will have to engage in a long bureaucratic battle.

MODERN GROUPS (part two)

Restaino Group working on the first part of the cave

Title Card: Luftloch Cave, -197 feet, Trieste, 2008

Marco and Piero continue, one Sunday after the other, with their slow, unstoppable exploration. The cave is called Luftloch, a German word that means “hole that breathes.”

Actually, what takes one’s breath away here is the unsteadiness of the areas dug out by the young men, and the incredible work they’ve carried out over the years. Descending and widening the cracks, meter after meter, they have harnessed entire walls which, nonetheless, always seem on the brink of collapse.

Stones

After great efforts, the discovery of a large well.

Marco throws stone

Marco: “Finally, after many metres of landslide…Outstanding!”

CG4 We descend the first 197 meters of Luftloch

In the cave called Luftloch, Marco and Piero have arrived at a depth of 197 feet [60 meters] after digging dozens of meters under a landslide: now the discovery of a large natural well could quickly lead them much deeper, towards the legendary Timavo. A fundamental passage, even compared to the group that is digging in Fernetti at that same moment.

Marco

Marco: “They’re a bit aged....”

Prelli Group at work

Title Card: Fernetti Cave, – 328 feet, Trieste, 2008

However, while the group of older men, Roberto Prelli and his companions, do not have time on their side, they do obtain some pretty impressive results in the cave. Their excavations have brought them to an even deeper area. They are already 328 feet [100 meters] below the surface. The entire cave has been equipped with solid metal ladders.

For now, they are still ahead of Marco and Piero, but a new bottleneck is blocking their path.

Various comments: Bosco during the Prelli dig, Bosco and Guidi,

Marco

Roberto Prelli: “Bosco? There’s air and the rock drops 23-26 feet.”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “We’ll pull up a little more rocks to free the way to the bottom.”

Roberto Prelli: “Wait, let me take off my glove so I can feel the air”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “Wait, let me move this as well”

Roberto Prelli: “It’s just that you’ll have to take off this part because it’s too tight and I can’t even move”

Marco Restaino: “Who’ll get there first? Us, definitely us!”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “The young guys go more for the abyss, going down 330 feet with a rope, I got there before you…”

Marco Restaino: “We’re not just grottenarbeiters, we’re the youngest grottenarbeiters”

Roberto Prelli: “As I said before, three of us are already almost 70 years old.”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “We’ll never give up until our sister, death, appears with her scythe”

Prelli Group at work

This stubbornness, these reasons, almost incomprehensible to ordinary people, are the necessary conditions for success. But often this is not enough: you need luck too. And when fortune turns its back on you, the line that separates adventure from drama can become very thin.

CAVE OF DEATH

Over black

Title Card: Monte Spaccato Pass. Trieste, 1862

Luca eats

The two Kral brothers

In 1862, hired by the Water Commission, the two Krall brothers find a new and very promising cave just above Trieste. The place is optimistically called the Cave of Hope.

First exploration

Luca Kral, the man who discovered Trebiciano, is always on the front line...

The hunt for the river and its waters is up again.

Work in the cave

After three years of backbreaking work, the explorers reach a depth of 833 feet [254 meters]. They are just one step away from the hidden river, but an impenetrable crevice blocks their way. The only way to continue is to place an great quantity of explosives at the bottom of the cave.

Preparing the mine,

ext and int.

To be safe, they decide not to blow up the mine with the usual fuse, but rather by producing a surge of high voltage. A copper cable is laid out along the cave and connected to a Ruhmkorff induction coil, a device provided by the Water Commission.

Explosion

Nothing happens

No noise, no signal from the cave to indicate that an explosion has taken place, or that anything has gone wrong.

The three go down

Two hours go by and a decision is made: they must go down to see what has happened, they have no other choice. Luca Kral, his dad and cousin go in.

Matteo Kral

It is 28 October 1866

Luca Kral dies

Even before they arrive at the explosion area, Luca and his relatives find an invisible and implacable enemy waiting for them: carbon monoxide.

BREAK 2

RECALL video

In the desperate attempt to find water for the thirsty city of Trieste, a powerful mine is blown up at the bottom of the Cave of Hope, but nothing can be heard from outside. Luca Kral, the man who discovered the river at Trebiciano, goes down with his relatives.

They are all killed by the gas released in the explosion.

Matteo returns and enters

Title Card: Monte Spaccato Pass. Trieste, 1866

There is nothing more to be done and no one else wants to go down in those conditions. After about ten days, an exasperated Matteo Kral decides to go and collect his relatives’ remains. But he too would never return from that cursed cave.

Bosco on bones

Natale Bone (Bosco): “The remains are still down there in a niche, someone put them in a niche... these bones that are still there... they aren’t even whole skeletons anymore. There’s half a skull, a few femurs...”

Funeral Ceremony

That terrible crevice, dug to reach the river and water, became the tomb of four men. The decision is made to close the cave leaving the bodies inside. From then on, it would no longer be called the Cave of Hope, but the Cave of the Dead. And Trieste would look elsewhere for its water.

GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN WINTER

Restaino Group in winter

Approach

Title Card: Luftloch. Trieste, 2009

Marco and Piero’s adventure, under the vigilant eye of the paternal Sergio, does not stop with the arrival of winter. Although outside, the Karst becomes white with snow, there are no seasons underground. There, the weather is always perfect to explore and nurture your dreams. An iron hatch separates the outside world from the secret world that the two young men have slowly built for themselves.

POV shot of the metal ladder and 180 foot descent into the well

For anyone, the descent into the first part of the cave, amid threatening rocks and hanging tubes, would be a real nightmare. For the two of them, on the other hand, it has become a mere formality.

The new well, 180 feet [55 meters] deep, is an obstacle they’ve already conquered. A lateral window leads them to a new and deep vertical crevice: the Luftloch cave descends into the darkness, leading Marco and Piero farther and farther from the surface. In tackling the large wells, the greatest risk is rocks falling from above, as Marco has learned first-hand…

Marco on the accident

Marco: “A rock broke away at the entrance to the well, and I was about 165 feet down, and I took this torpedo in my side.

I was able to make it out without help, although once I got outside, I laid down on the ground and stayed there. My kidney had been hit straight on, doctors told me that they pulled it out with a spoon. There was also a huge internal haemorrhage. They told me not to exert myself too much, but passion leads you to do things you shouldn’t…”

The two continue working

And in fact, the two friends are still there, with three kidneys left, combating the rocks, wells and bottlenecks. Courage and, at times, naiveté, are related to youth. Marco and Piero are by no means the only ones, nor the first. Another young man, 110 years before, lives on in history for the same reasons.

ABYSS OF SNAKES AND SIBERNA

Abyss of Serpents

Title Cards: Kacna Jama – Abyss of Serpents. San Canziano, 1889

Expedition of the Austro-German Mountaineering Club

A short distance away from the Chasm of San Canziano, a frightening abyss opens up; it is the Kacna Jama, or the Cave of Snakes.

Gregor Siberna, young Slovenian worker, asks his companions to lower him into the well, without informing the expedition leader. He wants to be the first to reach the mysterious river.

Siberna

Rotation

At a depth of 262 feet [80 meters], the abyss becomes enormous, frightening. Far from the walls, the hemp chord begins to twist, causing the boy to spin around.

CG 8 : Abyss of Serpents

Later, Siberna and his companions are able to reach the bottom of the well, 700 feet [214 meters] down, but not the flow of the underground river.

Photo 1972

It would take another 80 years before someone would succeed. A group of speleologists from Slovenia and Trieste do it in 1972. It is the second window onto the hidden river, 130 years after Lindner in Trebiciano.

CG 8 bis: the 4 abysses in Slovenia

Like the pieces of an immense puzzle, in the early years of 2000, three more caves explored by Slovenian speleologists reach the river. But most of it, almost 90% of the puzzle remains unknown, especially on the Italian side. And this is why it is pursued with such passion.

STORM AND SWELL

Storm in the Karst

It is the end of summer and rainstorms in this region can be very intense. It has been raining non-stop for twenty-four hours. When the storm ends in the mountains, its effects begin to emerge. The Karst is marked by numerous rivulets all flowing underground.

Swell San Canziano

In Slovenia, the Reka Timavo river is swollen and its tumultuous waters flow out into the San Canziano sinkhole. It is a long-awaited moment. The magical moment in which the hidden river stills the mysterious underground voids and raises its powerful voice. The swell.

Marco on the swell

Marco: “This phenomenon of the swells is relatively brief, only about 8-10 hours. You’re either there at the right moment or you’re not... and you don’t see anything, and afterwards everything goes back to normal”

Air from the holes, various

In the woods, the air comes out pretty much from everywhere, you just have to look for it...

You can’t even go down a few dozen feet into the cave: you’d literally be spit out.

Marco on the swell

Marco: “Witnessing a swell is... it’s very difficult to explain to a person who isn’t in this field… it’s like a geyser, a karst geyser, a flow of air, a boom... it is an incredible spectacle of nature.”

Various shots of air

The speed of the wind coming out can exceed 93 miles per hour [150 kilometers an hour].An incredible spectacle, which is also very useful: the wind is the messenger of the hidden river, it indicates the paths to follow and also the presence of a large cave!

The young men go down

Title card: Luftloch Cave, -623 feet, 19 September 2010

It is a once in a lifetime occurrence. It is the 19^th September 2010. At minus 623 feet [190 meters] down, they have an unexpected encounter… with the water!

CG 11: Luftloch water

Pushed by the exceptional swell, the Timavo has risen 328 feet (100 meters) up the Luftloch well. And the young men are there to greet it!

Young men

Now there is no doubt about the fact that their cave arrives at the river.

Piero

Piero Slama: “Water!”

SURRENDER OF THE OLDER MEN

Guidi waits impatiently at the surface

Title Card: Fernetti Cave. Trieste, October 2010

In the Fernetti Cave, explorations have reached a critical moment. Pino Guidi has a physical problem and is not able to continue the descent. He can only wait for his fellows and keep his fingers crossed.

Companions walk out disappointedshow their map

Natale Bone (Bosco): “Here we are, dear Pino, my goodness...”

Pino Guidi: “Were you able to get through or not?”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “No, we have to open it up more... you want to know what we did? Ok, I’ll tell you”

Pino Guidi: “So, where are we now?”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “We’re digging here, where you made those great retaining walls, you remember that from last time? Now we are digging in a crevice here, horizontal, where a little air is coming out…”

Pino Guidi: “Is anything falling, rocks?”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “No, there are no falling rocks, it’s just that we need to open it up some more, we’ll break it open with the wedges and see what happens next Saturday. There is a little air...”

Pino Guidi: “So, is there any hope?”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “There’s hope...”

Roberto Prelli: “Listen, we’ve been working for the last four and a half years, and at this point it would be crazy to give up. We have to look into every crevice and crack because at some point, that cave definitely reaches the water...”

CG5 Fernetti cave final

In the Fernetti Cave, Roberto and his companions have discovered different branches and reached various cave floors, but none seem to offer any real hope.

Despite the advantage they began with, the work of the last few years has all been vain: they have to start digging again, and higher up this time.

Group talking

They hearten each other and show their optimism, as always, but each in his own heart knows that the situation is not encouraging.

Discouraged comments Guidi and Prelli

Pino Guidi: “For two years, the situation here has been rather tragic, after days and days of work, results are not very satisfying.”

(Banner: Pino Guidi - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

Roberto Prelli: “Unfortunately we are at a dead end. We have had several hopes and several disappointments.”

(Banner: Roberto Prelli - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

Pino Guidi: “Time is working against us...”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “That’s how it is, you just keep going, right? At least we’ve got another few years of war front line…”

(Banner: Natale Bone (detto Bosco) - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

The group

In the end, they did really reach the Timavo at least once…

CG 7:

Lazzaro Jerco

In 1999, after years of arduous digging, during which they removed tons of debris, they were able to explore a large cavity which they truly did bring them to the underground river: the Lazzaro Jerco Cave.

Close ups

And the memory of that moment still arouses strong emotions

Comments Glauco Savi and Bosco on the discovery of the Lazzaro Jerco cave

Glauco Savi: “The Lazzaro Jerco... I was the first to actually cross it, all the way to the edge. And later, the following Sunday we went in again, and Ciano went down, then Bosco and me…”

(Banner: Glauco Savi - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

Natale Bone (Bosco): “This river that flowed by, amid lakes, small rapids, it was something really beautiful!”

(Banner: Natale Bone (Bosco) - E. Boegan Cave Commission)

Glauco Savi: “I ate so much mud, I hurt myself...”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “I remember it well, I’ll never forget that day, truly wonderful”

CG 7 bis: cavern at L. Jerco

The river runs for roughly 984 feet [300 meters] across two large caverns. But following its course is impossible because two deep siphons block the way both up and downstream. They protect the mystery.

THEY CAN’T BREATHE!

Restaino Group goes down the well

Title Card: Luftloch Cave, -656 ft, October 2010

A mystery now in the hands of the young guys, with the group of older men temporarily out of the game. The discovery of new natural wells has allowed Marco and Piero to descend quickly. They have so far reached -656 feet [200 meters], about 300 feet [90 meters] above the level where the river is believed to run, and they are now the only competitors left. But there is a problem.

Air trial with instrument

Breathing becomes tough. For some unknown reason, there is less oxygen than normal in this part of the cave... they can’t breathe! And it is Piero who suffers the most.

Comments of Marco and Piero about the air problem

Piero Slama: “You go up about 6 feet, try to catch your breath for at least one or two minutes... and something is not right, there’s something wrong. I don’t know, Marco suffers less from this lack of air, I don’t know. But I don’t think I can go down again.”

(Banner: Piero Slama – Adriatic Speleology Society)

Marco Restaino: “ He is someone who, once a decision is made, he takes it seriously”

(Banner: Marco Restaino – Adriatic Speleology Society)

Piero Slama: “I have already tried two or three times but... at a certain point I have to stop”

Marco Restaino: “I can’t get upset with Piero, we’re all different”

Piero Slama: “ Anyway before you get to the exit, there is quite a way to go, and then you start to panic, maybe you could also call it fear”

Marco Restaino: “He told me: look Marco, if you want, go find other people to go with… No”

Piero Slava: “I know that we’re almost there, that really we only have about another 160 feet or so, not very much at all, maybe even with very little effort. But under these circumstances, the situation gets much more complicated”

Marco Restaino: “No matter what the problem is... the two of us will finish it. We started in two, it is our dream, and we’ll finish in two.

Piero Slava: “I don’t want to go down anymore.”

Aerial

Despite incredible efforts, despite the air current indicating the right path, both groups are stopped by an apparently insurmountable obstacle. The night river seems farther and farther out of reach.

BREAK 3

AIR! THE RACE IS BACK ON!

RECALL video

After 10 years of digging in the cave that they called Lufloch, Marco and Piero have come just a step away from their goal, the hidden river called Timavo. But at 656 feet [200 meters] in depth, they encounter an unexpected obstacle: an area of the cave where, for mysterious reasons, the percentage of oxygen is inadequate. They can’t breathe! Marco is able to resist, but Piero doesn’t feel up to it.

Piero

Piero Slama: “I don’t want to go down anymore”.

Marco buys a large tube

Marco gets a seemingly simple idea. If there isn’t enough oxygen down there, they can bring it in with a pipe!

Placing a tube in the cave

Marco Restaino: “Pull, pull... go...”

Piero Slama: “Go, go..”

Marco Restaino: “Let off a little...”

Placing a tube

Slowly, foot by foot, the young men lay down over 650 feet [200 meters] of tubing in the dark of their abyss: if everything works, it will be their umbilical cord...

Fan at the entrance

On the surface, the tube is connected to a large aspirator. The idea is simple: by sucking out the bad air directly from the bottom of the cave, they provoke a strong inward flow. Healthy, outside air should flow downward and substitute the oxygen-poor air. All that’s left is for them to test it out.

Marco and Piero try

The idea works: the percentage of oxygen returns to normal. The game is back on, and it won’t be long now until they reach the level of the river.

Digging

Title Card: Luftloch Cave, -787 ft, 13 February 2011, Trieste

Beyond a small crevice seems to open into a large area.

Marco Restaino: “Do you hear that? Listen Piero. Do you hear that?”

BEGINNING OF FINALE OF THE HIDDEN RIVER

Marco and Piero

Piero Slama: “Marco! It keeps going! Come here! Come here!...”

Marco Restaino: “I’m coming!”

Piero find a new bottleneck

But noises in the cave can often be deceiving.

The much sought-after river is not to be found beyond those muddy bowels. Piero can only illuminate a new bottleneck to open. But something else attracts his attention…

Piero and sand

Piero:”Marco... there’s sand!” Marco: “Really...?”

Piero: “Yes, yes, sand!” Marco: “I don’t believe you...”

They pick

Piero: “Yes, really!” Marco: “Really?... This is from the river! Look!”

Speaking

Piero: “What?” Marco : “Look! The Trebiciano beetle!”

Insect

Piero: “No way!” Marco: “The Pteròsticus, look at it ! Dear God!”

Detail shots of insect

The same small living creature that Federico Lindner found at the bottom of the Trebiciano cave. The biological proof that it is the Timavo.

Lindner and insect

Destiny would have it that the two young men make the same discovery that Lindner made, exactly 170 years later...

Marco and Piero shake hands

It is an important, decisive moment. They haven’t yet seen the river, but now they know they’ve found it. The digging will still be long and dangerous, perhaps lasting months. But one thing is certain, the race is over.

CG 10 from Luftloch to the entire system,

The success of Marco, Piero and all of those who believed in them adds a new chapter, one of the most important to the mysterious story of the Timavo.

The Luftloch cave reaches the river, and it is the third time this has occurred on Italian territory. Being situated between the Trebiciano Cave and the Lazzaro Jerco, it could become an fundamental access point for future explorations.

But beyond the scientific value, it is the conclusion of an extraordinary personal journey that lasted 10 years.

Meeting above ground with the elders

Natale Bone (Bosco): “How is going Marco?”

Marco Restaino: “Good morning, it’s good to see you”

Natale Bone (Bosco); “We came to visit you, and hear the latest...”

Marco Restaino: “Thank you!”

Roberto Prelli: “Great, Great”

Marco Restaino: “Great. Well, all things considered, it’s not bad. A little while ago, at less than 787 feet, there was a crack in the rock... but it’s fine... because there’s sand and we also found the Pteràstechu beetles, that black insect that we also saw at Trebiciano… the same one!”

Marco and Piero talking in the cave

Marco Restaino: “Because wherever he is, the river is, so it’s right around the corner. We’ve made it…”

Piero Slama: “Yes, I’ve always believed in it, never doubted this excavation and especially that we’d find the Timavo”

Meeting above ground with the elders

Natale Bone (Bosco): “With all the work you’ve done you deserve the Timavo more than we do!”

Marco Restaino: “Well... Well...!!”

Natale Bone (Bosco): “We have and still are going to extraordinary efforts, but what you did is truly phenomenal!”

Marco Restaino: “The Timavo isn’t something you deserve, it has to be conquered!”

Comment Dambrosi

Sergio Dambrosi: “Basically, they’re on their way to becoming excellent water keepers, because in the future it will become an increasingly precious reserve and speleologists are actually the only ones who can really control water resources.”

(Banner: Sergio Dambrosi – President Adriatic Speleology Society)

Springs

Resources that are still for the most part, mysterious, like the Timavo river.

At the end of its long journey, the mouth near the sea, is a beautiful place.

Faces of main characters

It is by now clear that the Timavo is not just a simple river, it is made of a thousand lakes, rapids, waterfalls, crevices, and passages buried underground. And it is in no hurry to reveal its mysteries. That’s why this race has been on for 200 years, and will probably never end.