{"id":9538,"date":"2021-08-09T23:01:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T21:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.underwatertales.net\/2021\/08\/09\/diving-at-the-lake-of-avigliana\/"},"modified":"2022-10-28T16:17:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T14:17:47","slug":"diving-at-the-lake-of-avigliana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.underwatertales.net\/en\/2021\/08\/09\/diving-at-the-lake-of-avigliana\/","title":{"rendered":"Diving at the Lake of Avigliana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Diving at Lake Avigliana. Someone says “nothingness under water”. But it’s really just a slogan. The ecosystem is different but equally as rich: carp, catfish, perch, bleak. But also native shrimp and, if you’re lucky, the Louisiana shrimp. And then a plaque at the entrance to the Tommaso Vescera Diving Center. With the verses of Pablo Neruda.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Avigliana, the city of the two lakes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Avigliana<\/strong>, western province of Turin, entrance to the Val di Susa. It is the city of two lakes, the big one and the small one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many legends<\/strong> have been built around these two lakes. One of these concerns the life of a pilgrim. After a particularly fortunate long period, the villagers had become terribly selfish and cruel. Especially with people who didn’t live as comfortably as they do. So it was that one day, a pilgrim dressed in white arrived in the city. His face was emaciated and the signs of his fatigue were now quite evident. At the end of his strength, he knocked on the doors of the houses to ask for some food. Everyone refused to let him into their home. He went as far as the end of the village, where the house of an elderly woman was located. Only she – although she was poorer than the other inhabitants of the village – offered him food and a warm bed. The next day, when the woman woke up, she no longer saw the traveler. She was amazed, she went out and marveled at what she saw: the whole village had disappeared. Two beautiful lakes had taken its place. The “divine” wayfarer had rewarded the good heart of the woman by leaving only her house intact and giving her an enchanted landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Immersioni<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

My first steps underwater<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In these parts I have learned to go underwater<\/strong>. In a swimming pool, not in the lake. Because in those days, bathing was prohibited. Eddies were formed. Several people died, some children. I don’t know if it was due to recklessness or due to real natural events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact is that the lake was not accessible. So I went to a local pool<\/strong>. I went to try to breathe underwater with cylinders. We were many, because during those days the world of diving was in full development. Each of us was saddled with a companion. I later found out they were instructors. The head watched over them. A sonorous voice<\/strong> that organized and dictated the times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following Sunday, the evening edition of the news told of an underwater incident<\/strong> in the waters of Portofino. I paid attention. The photo of the victim reminded me of something. Maybe he was part of the group of instructors, a few nights before, in that pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years I continued to frequent that pool, which produced divers who dived into the sea because the lake was closed. The memory of that instructor who lost his life in the waters of Portofino hovered over them. The sonorous voice took him as an example<\/strong>. Of skill and competence. After all that time, I seemed to have known him too. Although I had only glimpsed him once and, almost certainly, I had not spoken to him.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Immersioni<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Lake Avigliana more than twenty years later<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Twenty years later, Lake Avigliana was reopened for bathing. And there, Ivo Bertolo, my first instructor, the one with the sonorous voice, opened a diving center. A space on the shores of Lago Grande for diving at Lake Avigliana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivo is a volcano of ideas, strong in his life choices. His way of communicating conveys decision. He is stubborn; bordering on stubbornness. Often in his life he went against the grain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012 he overturned the perspective of Lake Avigliana with the construction of the via ferrata<\/strong>. He allows you to cross the lake starting from several points and connects the most interesting dive sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Immersioni<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Divers can follow the via ferrata<\/strong> located one meter from the sediment. It uses an 8 mm nylon rope, hoisted with annular buoys. The ends of the routes are located at the old dynamite factory, the Chalet del lago, the Nautical Center and the diving center. They allow you to safely cross the lake from coast to coast following a cross path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, depending on the chosen starting point, you can travel the 5 sections along the east-west route, for a total of 940 meters<\/strong>, or the 4 along the north-south axis, covering 1125 meters<\/strong>. However, there are numerous combinations that allow you to lengthen the track at will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, diving has been possible on Lake Avigliana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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