Speleology
The speleology is a discipline that consists in exploring the hypogeous systems generally localised in the karst mountain massifs. There are many difficulties during a cave excursion : faces to climb, shafts to descend and narrows to cross.
The hollows have always represented a strong explorative remind and from XVIIth century several written evidences have described some brave´s exploits who dared to enter in dangerous dephts. In Piedmont the limestone rocks rise in a very restricted area in spite of the great development of the region orography. The caves are mainly concentrated in the Ligurian Alps where the mountains are modest regarding the other parts of the alpine chain, but they are one of the best example of high altitude karst thanks to the great number of caves, to their extensions and even to the imponence of the karstical superficial phenomenon. In the others areas it is more limited, but very interesting, with a lot of exploring perspectives.
