canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Fosso Quaita

Fosso Quaita goes down to Salto lake in a nice sequence of cascade at the foot of the rock spur of Rocca Vittiana. Canyon is few-engaged and luxuriant.

I remember ...

Many canyoning enthusiasts knew there was a canyon at the foot of Rocca Vittiana. I knew it for 20 years, since I came there during one of my reconnaissance days searching for new canyons to explore. That day I came to canyon's startpoint but there was only a little flow and the bed had a lot of spiny vegetation. Moreover it was clear that the canyon was short and few engaged, so I thought it was uninteresting.
Among the others who knew about the Quaita let me mention Giuseppe Antonini and his guidebook Figlie dell'acqua e del tempo, where he devotes a few lines to the Quaita (that he calls Guaida) placing it among the uninteresting canyons in Salto valley.
Occasionally someone asked me about the Quaita for knowing if I had been there and if it was interesting: I always answered "no" to both questions.

Years pass. One day the questions about Quaita came from my friend Claudio Fortunato. In the meanwhile I had started a revision of the tributaries of river Salto, and I had realized I might have been wrong in putting the Quaita among the totally uninteresting valleys.
So that time my answer was different: certainly it's not a great canyoning trail, but I guess it would be worth descending, maybe just for once. Since you are also interested we could go together!
Claudio says ok, even with some enthusiasm, but everytime I try to set a date for exploration something always happens preventing we from going. So months pass, I go on with my canyoning activity and the Quaita remains unexplored. Claudio looks sorry, and he tells me Michele, don't worry about me, go and explore by yourself! and I: no problem Claudio, I can wait for you to do it together! And months continued to pass ...
... till the day I found myself with a free day of unstable weather, not suitable for a challenging canyon: it's the perfect day for Quaita, I thought, and I know Claudio will not be disappointed, so ... Now!

Many canyoning enthusiasts knew there was a canyon at the foot of Rocca Vittiana ... but no one had realized the canyon starts above the village! I realized it while writing this webpage; looking at the topographic map something struck a bell inside my head, so I planned to go and check, sooner or later.
The chance came in late june. It was 16 PM when I verified the canyon was really there. I had the gear in my car and I did not let the opportunity pass, though late afternoon is all but the best moment for exploring a canyon ...
There was much less water than the first time, but enough for having fun!

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.

Copyright © 2002- Michele Angileri. All rights reserved.