In 1978 a small group of Cavers accompanied a British Royal Geographical expedition to study the mysterious Mulu Peak, on the Malaysian Island of Borneo. It was on this exploration that the breathtaking Sarawak Chamber was discovered, an unsupported natural space of a scale far beyond anything yet known. According to Smithsonian Magazine (from October 2014) : ‘The Mulu Caves, located in Gunung Mulu National Park on the island of Borneo, are home to the world’s largest cave chamber by surface area, as well as one of the largest cave passages on Earth. The Sarawak Chamber, which measures 1.66 million square feet, is nearly 2,000 feet long and over 260 feet high—so large that it could hold 40 Boeing 747 airplanes. Deer Chamber, one of the largest cave passages on Earth, is so big that it could fit five cathedrals the size of Saint Paul’s in London inside its cavernous walls.’
The cavers returned in a 1984 expedition to further explore the Chamber of the Mulu National Park, taking a camera crew to record their findings. Limited resources, time and technology enabled the crew to reach only so far – the heavy flowing pools and streams forcing the group to retreat.
28 years later, the Cavers and Emmy Award winning cameraman Gavin Newman returned with advanced, lightweight camera equipment to investigate what they had reluctantly left unexplored.
Follow the journey of the Cavers as they explore depths of the Chamber never before seen, a journey experienced for the first time in history. Watch ‘The Chamber’, available on Garage now!
