For the third consecutive year, the Hundred Trimix Team Explorer, along with TSA friends and aficionados, took a high-altitude dive to what was dubbed “ The Brotherhood Pond ” in 2017.
Despite the adverse and terrible weather conditions of the previous day where no one would have bet a cent on the sun and the success of the event, on Sunday 23 July, on a classic and always unforgettable high mountain day, ... one of those days where you can touch the sky with a finger ... one of those days where "the sky is always bluer" ... one of those days that makes you want to sing at the top of your lungs the legendary song by the great Jimmy Fontana ... "the world, only now I'm looking at you!!!" our fearless subbi , immersed themselves in Lake Monticelli at an altitude of 2599 metres at the base of the Presena glacier, Passo del Tonale.
You can tell it, but you have to really be there to experience these sensations, when you look out from the cable car and the world is below, and in front of you and you know that THERE, soon you will go underwater, like in a basin suspended in the void... WOW!!
Everyone was very friendly and excited: Ivan Rolli – overall organization, Carlo Roncoroni – tactical support, our trainer Claudio Esposito ready to fill out high-altitude diving certifications, Luciano Campanelli – the precise one, Antonino Lacchei – few but good words and Pietro Schiaccianoce – pleasantly late, immortalized by the tireless “always ready and present” Mario Rolli, they dived into the waters directly below the Presena glacier, certainly staying nice and cool at a temperature of 4-5 degrees, for about 59 minutes of run time. A simple 15-liter single tank loaded for the occasion with a nice trimix 21/0 (…ah ah ah), a BCD, a good regulator with an antifreeze first stage, plenty of ballast and a lot of curiosity and desire to be there. A notable detail was the observation of the depth gauge and the thermometer, with a loss of one degree almost every 2 meters.
Between the passage of a trout in front of Luciano's incredulous mask, the extremely crystalline water of the first three meters along the rock wall and some inconvenience of flooding of the pond, (this was not the case here, and the name of the sinner is not mentioned), the mind goes back in time for a few moments, when you come across iron posts, pieces of barbed wire, and maybe even some war devices, because even after a hundred years, the Great War is still felt here, even more intensely when you are immersed in your thoughts in the water environment.... " Look and don't touch " is always the rule, but above all "think" about what happened here a long time ago on the front lines to thousands of boys at the front, in inhumane conditions.
But the smile soon returns, after the facial muscles slowly regain consciousness, and the face and the “…a bit like this” expression of those who see you, at almost 3000 meters above sea level , carrying the tanks on your shoulder or with a wheelbarrow recovered on the fly for about 150 meters, dressing in a nice warm undersuit, warm and dry gloves and diving with a mountain of ballast on your back to stay at least a little negative. Equally funny is the tourist Ada, a Polish girl who, after dozens of shots in… “this water that seems fake…”, wants a shot hugging your dripping drysuit…!! …Ehh…the tourists…..
It didn't end with "tarallucci and wine" but with polenta, mushrooms and pizzoccheri washed down with an excellent glass of red, but above all with the excellent company, I would say very euphoric for the beautiful experience lived, and above all by the memory that: " that day, I was there too!!!! ". Carlo Roncoroni
