Ten years of explorations in South Supramonte (Sardinia)

Supramonte is a Mesozoic carbonate massif located in Central-East Sardinia which hosts some of the most important karst systems of the island. Pioneer explorations started in the 50’s, with the discovery of Su Bentu (Oliena), the major cave in the northern part of this area. Only in 1967, the entrance of an underground network in the southern recharge district (S’Edera sinkhole, municipality of Urzulei) was discovered, but for many years several cavers tried to unravel the subterranean labyrinth finding mostly vertical branches only. During the 90’s, S’Edera Cave became 6,5 km long and finally, in April 1998, a significant piece of a constantly growing puzzle was explored in Flumineddu canyon: Mandara ‘e S’Uru Manna Cave. Since that moment, many discoveries have allowed the explorers to triple the development of known cave passages (from 8 km to over 25 km): Su Colostrargiu Cave, Sa Rutta ‘e S’Edera Cave (which grew up to 13 km), S’Orale ‘e Su Mudrecu Cave and, finally, Su Eni ‘e Istettai Cave, the deepest cave of Sardinia (-447 m). This article will tell you the entire story of this adventure that has seen cavers of different groups and nationalities working together on this ambitious project, in what has become a never-ending story.