Supercave Discovered in Vietnam;"Greatest discovery in a generation!" Claim Screenwriters, Location Scouts

Also reportedly "thrilled:" people who make Yo Mama jokes.

rdbrewer posted this in the sidebar on Friday, I think. If you haven't clicked, do so; it's just eight pictures, all of it pretty breathtaking.

This is what we speleologists call "a big fucking cave."

Picture taken from here.

Another good here's-a-human-for-scale-purposes shot:

Hey, let's go fishing:

That from here.

I think a lot of pictures on the internet of caves are now being mislabled as Hang Son Doong/Phong Nha caves, by the way.

Here's a National Geographic article about it. It was discovered 20 years ago, but in May of 2009 an expedition actually explored it. It's in the news now because the last expedition was halted...

In the spring of 2009, Sims was a member of the first expedition to enter Hang Son Doong, or “mountain river cave,” in a remote part of central Vietnam. Hidden in rugged Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park near the border with Laos, the cave is part of a network of 150 or so caves, many still not surveyed, in the Annamite Mountains. During the first expedition, the team explored two and a half miles of Hang Son Doong before a 200-foot wall of muddy calcite stopped them. They named it the Great Wall of Vietnam. Above it they could make out an open space and traces of light, but they had no idea what lay on the other side. A year later, they have returned—seven hard-core British cavers, a few scientists, and a crew of porters—to climb the wall, if they can, measure the passage, and push on, if possible, all the way to the end of the cave.

posted by Ace at 03:44 PM

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