{"id":7527,"date":"2021-06-21T19:10:18","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T17:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.underwatertales.net\/2021\/06\/21\/mario-marconi-uno-degli-speleosub-piu-importanti-deuropa\/"},"modified":"2022-07-07T11:23:36","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T09:23:36","slug":"mario-marconi-one-of-the-most-important-cave-divers-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.underwatertales.net\/en\/2021\/06\/21\/mario-marconi-one-of-the-most-important-cave-divers-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario Marconi: one of the most important cave divers in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mario Marconi is one of the most important cave divers in Europe. From 2003 onwards he has been the protagonist of incredible feats that push him where no one has ever gone before. The exploration of the Source de Saint Saveur and the wreck of the Milano boat are his best results.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
His beginnings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mario Marconi becomes a diver at the age of 17 and three years later he is attracted by the first movements of the technical divers who dive into the caves. Caves are love at first sight, the classic fatal attraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is a soldier, works in the air force and is an on-board operator on rescue helicopters. At that time he served in Novara. For him, arriving in France to immerse himself in the transalpine caves is very comfortable. He frequents the best cave divers and learns their philosophies. He participated in numerous expeditions.<\/p>\n\n\n
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The first companies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In 2002 he obtained the Speleosub certification at the National School of Speleosubacquea. The following year, together with Carlo Marcheggiani, he reached a depth of -125 meters in open circuit in the sink hole, the “Pozzo del Merro<\/strong>“. To this date, the deepest human exploration carried out in this karst sinkhole. In the same year, and with the same diving partner, he found the continuation of the Capodacqua resurgence and explored the whole new section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exploration of the Saint Saveur Source (-174 meters)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The first real enterprise dates back to 2004, when with Jerome Meynie<\/strong>, he explores the Source of Saint Saveur<\/strong>. They dive in a double rebreather configuration, with a scooter. And with a one-square-meter plastic box, fixed to the ceiling of the cave at a depth of 12 meters, to be used as a decompression habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have one assistant at -60 and one at -12. Nothing more, they have to take care of the rest. They exceed the known limit at -80, pass the lateral passage of the cave and arrive at the vertical shaft. Mario stops at – 174, with the drysuit tank exhausted. Jerome comes in at -182.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They go up together at -120 meters, do the stop check and then go up independently due to the different dive profiles caused by the different depths reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His DPV stops 600 meters from the exit of the side passage. He pushes it by hand up to the deco box. He enters the decompression home and takes 4 hours to breathe oxygen. Jerome joins him and listens to music from the iPod with him, eats fruit a few bars. Jerome chooses \u201clasagne alla bolognese\u201d, strictly made in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His dive will last 9 hours and 23 minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
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From that immersion he married the philosophy of the only diver. \u201cBecause beyond a certain depth you can only provide your partner with help and not help. With the stress, the technical equipment and the difficult environment, you can easily risk a double accident. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again in 2004, always in double CCR and without any assistance team, he took the exploration of the “La Foce<\/strong>” cave from -80m to -120m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2005 he extended the exploration of the “Grava di San Giovanni<\/strong>” from the previous terminous of -70mt up to -134m using CCR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wreck of the Battello Milano (-241 meters)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In 2008, together with Alessandro Scuotto<\/strong> and Pim van Der Horst<\/strong>, he dived on the wreck<\/strong> of the \u201cMilano<\/strong>\u201d boat in Lake Maggiore reaching -241mt<\/strong> (depth compensated by the altitude) with a rebreather. To this date, it is the deepest human dive ever made on a wreck. The support ROV, the balloons fired at the rest stops to say that everything is fine, the heated bell and, above all, the decompression hours. Marco Sieni told it very well in SUB issue 274, July 2008. I suggest you to read it: http:\/\/www.marcosieni.it\/?Photo-Works\/Relitto-Milano\u2013236<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n