'World's biggest' cave uncovered

The Sun (UK) ^ | April 30, 2009 | Staff Reporter

[SunkenCiv]

A British caving team believe they've discovered the world's largest cave passage in the heart of the Vietnamese jungle. Measuring 200m high and 150m wide the new cave, called Hang Son Doong -- or Mountain River Cave -- is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder Previously unexplored, the team believe Hang Son Doong is larger than the Deer Cave in Sarwark, Malaysia, which is 100m high and 90m wide... Adam Spillane, a member of the 13-man expedition team, said... "Much of the passage width is over 100m but certain sections are over 150m wide... The cave was originally discovered in 1991 by a Vietnamese Jungle man called Ho Khanh from Phong Nha village. Khanh has been a guide for the team in many expeditions to the jungle to explore caves and this year he took a team to the cave which had never been entered before by anyone including local jungle men. This was because the entrance which is small by Vietnamese cave standards (10m high and 30m wide) emitted a frightful wind and noise which was due to a large underground river." The team spent six hours trekking through the jungle to reached the cave. Climbing down into a large chamber, they had to negotiate two underground rivers before reaching the main passage of the Hang Son Doong.

Massive ... the caving team in Hang Son Doong [Barcroft Media]

[SunkenCiv]

related story (linked from the above):

Is this the world's deepest cave? In China's mountainous village of Tian Xing, a team of British cave explorers say they have discovered the world's deepest underground shaft. Connected by two cave systems, Qikeng and Dong Ba, their combined depth measures an astonishing 1026m. Photographer Robert Shone spent two months with the climbers charting their discovery beneath Tian Xing. "I was invited to join an international caving expedition last September by a friend of mine, Richard Gerrish, who lives and works out in Hong Kong," said the 28-year-old from Manchester. "Along with a team of international climbers, we started our journey on the surface at the entrance of the Miao Keng underground caves. "Miao Keng (known as China's big shaft) is a 506 metre deep shaft and it would take two hours for us to make the descent." Camping underground for four to five-day periods the British team explored the tunnels and passages at the base of the Miao Keng shaft. "We were already aware of Miao Keng's 506 metre big shaft, but we wanted to explore further," said Robbie. "When we reached the bottom of the big shaft there is only one way off into a stream way passage. "The entire cave system, from the surface of the big shaft of Miao Keng, to the lowest point of Dong Ba totalled more than 1026m in depth." An experienced climber, Robbie has worked as an abseiler all over the world.

Abyss ... the huge shaft [Barcroft Media]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Hugin]

The writing is a bit misleading. By “largest cave” they seem to mean the largest single chamber in a cave. But cave systems can have multiple tunnels going for many miles. Largest could mean total tunnel length, volume of the total system, etc.

[bigheadfred]

Thanks for the ping, civ, and for clearing things up, Hugin.

I was worried this was another post about M...just kidding

This is cool.

[cripplecreek]

Very cool. When I was a kid we spent a week in the Kentucky cave region and I loved it. One of these days I want to go back.

[Salamander]

Thanks.

I love caves.

[no “blind salamander” jokes, please]

[Huskrrrr]

‘World’s biggest’ cave uncovered.

The soul of the Democratic Party.

[JoeProBono]

[spyone]

Where is the longest touristable hiking cave in North America? This is fascinating. Would like to try one.

[PackerBoy]

Now THAT’s cool.

[SunkenCiv]

You like those giant graphic files, doncha? ;’) I’d really like to see a topic on the caves of Agartha, but it’s not a huge priority.

[Viking2002]

WOW!

[FourPeas]

For some reason that reminds me of “The Abominable Dr. Phibes”. Yeeek.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

It could be Carlsbad in Southeast new Mexico...it has some big chambers too.

[Ax]

Can you even begin to imagine the size of the spiders that would be living in there? Yikes.

[BP2]

Cool caves ...

Still, they ain't got nothing over on Mel's Hole:

Mel's Hole comes is an alleged geographic anomaly that a man named Mel Waters claimed to have discovered on his land near Ellensburg, Washington. This man claimed that he lived in or near Manastash Ridge, Washington, about nine miles due west of Ellensburg, though later investigation revealed that no such person is listed as a resident. According to him, the hole has paranormal properties, including an infinite depth and the ability to restore dead animals to life.

The first references to the hole were made in a series of interviews with Waters, made by Art Bell on the American radio show Coast to Coast AM. Waters initially appeared on Coast to Coast AM on February 21, 1997. He since appeared on February 24, 1997, April 2000 and January 29, 2002. His most recent appearance on the show was on December 20, 2002.

While speaking on Coast to Coast AM, Waters related several stories about the hole and its properties. Among these stories was the claim that he had discovered that it was in excess of 15 miles (24 kilometers) deep, a figure he is said to have reached after spooling out 18 reels of 20 lb test fishing line, tied end on end, into the hole. Waters claims that he attached a “triangular, one-pound, standard lead fishing weight” to the end of the fishing line. (Note, however, that the fishing weight plus the weight of 18 spools of ~5000-foot monofilament fishing line might well exceed the tensile strength of the line.)

Waters also alluded to the hole as having a property to resurrect dead animals, this claim arising from a story about an acquaintance who said he threw his dead dog's body into the hole and re-encountered his dog, alive, hunting with someone else, some time later. He also speculated that the hole and its properties might be tied to certain cosmological events, including unspecified alignments of the moon.

On the September 18, 2008 edition of Coast to Coast AM, Guest Red Elk, an Inter-Tribal Medicine Man recounted the time he visited Mel's hole with his father. He recounted the hole as “around 9 ft. around and somewhere between 24–28 miles deep” and said that it was a blow hole for Mount Rainier.

The exact location of the hole was never revealed by Waters. It has theorized that it is located in a region which has been removed from publicly available satellite images due to the presence of nearby Yakima Training Center. Several attempts have been made to find it, but none have been successful.

Prior to the tenth anniversary of Mel's first appearance on Coast to Coast AM, the moderator of the Mel's Hole website posted that the search for the hole had reached a dead end, and that it would likely never be proven to exist unless Mel came forward with evidence in support of it as a real location.

See more here: Mel's Hole Forum

[null and void]

ping

[Hugin]

I believe it’s Mamouth Cave in TN. Never been there, but I did tour Lewis and Clark cavern as a kid. Very impressive.

[Hugin]

Self correction, Mamouth Cave is in KY, not TN.

[Grammy]

The known, mapped part of Mammoth cave is 350 miles long, though very little of it is open to the public (about 6 miles). It is actually probably bigger than that, but locals don’t want to acknowledge that their caves are attached to Mammoth, as then the park service will take over their property.