Description
The main entrance is located at the top of the wall and is accessed via a small, short ledge without difficulty, coming from the arrival station of the chairlift at the top of Paganella (blue signs along the path between the mugho trees on Becco di Corno). The entrance on the north ledge, at the head of the Val Trementina, serves as an exit route after having completed the complete traverse of the cave (check, of course, that the Pozzo Carmen is armed, as is the ledge and the exit at the end of it.
From the main entrance you descend with a slight slope, past the Main Crossroads, towards the Dome, the most impressive room in the entire cavity; from here you can visit the Bell Corridor (south-east), the Crypt (south, uphill) and the Casket (west, also uphill).
At the Main Crossroads (we are 100 m from the entrance) we can instead take a right (north) and descend into the Bus de le Grole (large window in the wall with a view of the Adige Valley - Requires at least a 25-rope rope) or into the Trap Gallery, which with a series of jumps leads down to the Carmen Shaft, the centrepiece of the new galleries explored in the 1980s. Descending into the Demiurge Gallery provides access to the overhanging Grotta del Capo; ascending the opposite wall of the shaft, however, an approx. 200-metre conduit leads back out onto the northern ledge.
Highlights and things to see
The semi-tourist approach should be limited to the upper parts and may include the Dome, the Crypt and the Casket.
On the other hand, avoid the lower Antro (landslides) and the Corridoio delle Trappole (deep gorge-diaclase interrupted here and there by jammed blocks, sudden jumps, small meanders and shafts), for which several tens of metres of rope and climbing equipment are required.
Internal difficulties
A lanyard is useful for ascending the chimney passage to the Crypt. For an easy descent into the Bus de le Grole, in addition to the rope and climbing equipment, it is a good idea to equip the ledge leading to the top of the large rift with a fixed rope.
Special equipment
Climbing equipment for visiting the Bus de le Grole, the Corridoio delle Trappole (with possible traverse), and Antro Inferiore (where there is nothing to see anyway)
For further information: Gruppo Speleologico SAT Lavis, Via Matteotti, 4 - 38015 LAVIS
1) La Grotta Cesare Battisti sulla Paganella / Cesare Conci, Antonio Galvagni. // IN: Studi trentini di scienze naturali.Trento. A. 27(1951, no. 1/3; p. 100-111
3) Morphology and evolution of the Cesare Battisti Cave (La Paganella, Trento) / Alfredo Bini, Andrea Borsato, Nicola Ischia. // IN: Natura alpina. Trento. A. 41 (1991), no. 2/3; p. 41-77
4) Proceedings XI Regional Conference on Speleology of Trentino-Alto Adige / edited by the Rovereto "E. Roner" Cave Group. - Rovereto (TN) : Osiris, 2001. - 241 p.
5) Proceedings of the 12th regional conference on speleology in Trentino-Alto Adige : Grigno, 7-8 September 2002 / [edited by: Marco Ischia]. - Trento : Society of Mountaineers of Trento, Mountain Library, 2004. 167 p.
6) Trent'anni di speleologia ad Arco, edited by Gruppo Speleologico SAT Arco; Arco, Ed. CAI-SAT Sez. Arco, November 2002, p. 56
Main data Cave "Cesare Battisti" (VT-TN-125)
Municipality: Zambana
Mountain: Paganella
Karstic Area: VT PG 01 - TN
Entrance altitude: m 1880, 1698
Height difference: +22, -182 m
Real development: 2342 m
Surveyors: Nicola Ischia, 1978-1982; Andrea Borsato, 1990
