canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Mancusella di Droma

The granite massif of Serre is furrowed by numerous canyons featuring high flow-rates. The approach trails are often long and complex. Dense forests cover the uninhabited summit plateau and its flanks.

Mancusella di Droma is among the little tributaries of river Stilaro, whose main branches, the Folea and Ruggiero, dig interesting canyoning trails. Folea is the one which makes the famous Marmarico waterfalls, one of the most interesting natural monuments in southern Calabria.

The Mancusella has a little drainage basin and so, in summer, the flow-rate isn't large, and gives no problems to canyoneers. I guess Mancusella can be covered also in wet seasons. Mancusella features a few short narrows, with cascades and pools, interspersed with long wider parts where you must walk on the unstable granite stones, or downclimb the boulders. The descent of Mancusella canyon requires little technical skills and much physical effort. Moreover, the shuttle route is long, and the approach trail is long and complex.

I don't think Mancusella di Droma will ever be among the most frequented canyons in Serre massif.

I remember ...

For that day we had 3 options.

1. Exploration of torrent "X". But it would have been a very long trail, unless we had 2 off-road vehicles (and we had only one).
2. Descent of Folea canyon and the Marmarico waterfalls
3. Exploration of a Stilaro's tributary, the on passing under the road to Marmarico cascades. We had seen nice pools and narrows under the bridge, with low cascades. Moreover, the approach and exit trails appeared much shorter and easier than the average in Serre mounts.

You know: unexplored canyons attract us more than known ones ... So we opted for Stilaro's tributary, the Mancusella di Droma.
But it was all but short and easy approaching the canyon ...

Photographs in this website show ultralight ropes (6 mm ropes made of high tenacity fibers). Read multimedia book Ultralight ropes canyoning technique to learn how to use them.

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