Ronny and Pietro Kiaulehn escape the crowds of Lake Garda to wingfoil a new spot on a busy day in summer

Ronny Kiaulehn is a top photographer when it comes to extreme sports. Pietro, his 16-year-old son, is fast becoming one of wingfoiling's best athletes on Lake Garda.

Their weekend routine is to wake up early and, around 7 am, take their van filled with equipment to Conca d'Oro in Torbole - Lake Garda - to easily find parking in one of the busiest locations in the area. They usually leave the van there for a few hours while enjoying the calming atmosphere of the early hours of the day, returning in the afternoon to go out when the Ora (Garda's typical afternoon wind from the south) starts blowing, without having to worry about finding a parking space during peak hours. In Torbole, wingfoiling is literally booming, and there are now many wingers darting on the waters of Garda Trentino, side by side with windsurfers: it's a fantastic show, but sometimes a little too crowded.

However, Ronny's alarm didn’t go off on that Sunday in August, so they arrived in Conca around 10 am with no chance of finding a parking space. That day Pietro had to train for the next light-wind races, such as the Wing Foil World Championships of Campione del Garda at the end of October. He also had to try the new sail from Naish, the new Matador 6.0, with the large foils of SABfoil for light wind. Furthermore, Ronny had to take some pictures of wingfoiling for the Tourism marketing office. This plan was almost compromised because it was simply impossible to find a parking space for the van. In those tense moments, Ronny remembered an old story told by a friend about a small lake a few kilometres away, discovered when he wanted to escape from the crowds of Torbole: Lake Cavedine.

About 30 years ago, the famous sailmaker Monty Spindler had told Ronny, while they were working together in the sail loft, that since he was living in Bolognano - a small town a few kilometres away from Cavedine - often on Sunday he preferred to avoid the crowd of Torbole and go windsurfing on Lake Cavedine. Since then, Ronny had been thinking of doing something on this lake, and finally, with Pietro and the wingfoil, the day had come. Ronny then told his son: "Today is the Cavedine day!".

Ronny and Pietro loaded everything into the van, including the SABfoil 899, a new super-light wind freestyle foil developed by Swiss Balz Müller.

Ronny and his son drove through the Garda area and left behind the chaos of Torbole. As they proceeded north, following the road for Linfano and then for Dro, the traffic became more and more sparse. Once in Dro, they turned towards Drena, and here you can enjoy the view of the Marocche and the small road that leads to this magnificent, almost hidden, lake; you don't even expect to find a lake in such a lunar landscape.

Even if the parking is not very large, the two quickly found a spot, noticing with pleasure that nearby are a bar, a restaurant, and a beautiful path to get to the lake. Windsurfers don’t come here often, although a rental windsurfing school has been open for many years in Cavedine. Pietro wasted no time and entered the water with his light-wind equipment: a Naish Matador 6.0. The wind was weak, but it was a lot of fun, and Pietro enjoyed this gem of Trentino in complete solitude.

Tips

At Lake Cavedine, you go out mainly when the Ora blows. When there's a lot of wind from the south on Lake Garda, the intensity is generally slightly lower on Lake Cavedine. Do not go to Cavedine if there is weak or no wind on Lake Garda.

The water, on the other hand, is always colder than in Garda.

The landscape of Lake Cavedine, under the rocky wall of the 2000m mountain, is spectacular, and so is Marocche di Dro. Do not miss the opportunity to take a pleasant excursion and relax in the restaurant/bar on the shores of the lake.

Traffic and crowds are non-existent in this area; you will appreciate the silence of Lake Cavedine. Watch out for swimmers and enjoy hanging out with the locals in the area, as tourists rarely come here.

By Fabio Calò

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