Are you a camping enthusiast? Would you still be if your tent dangled in mid-air, on the side of a 4,000 foot-high rock face, suspended only by a couple ropes and knotted by the accident-prone hands of a mere mortal?

For fans of big wall climbs, the answer is a resounding “yes”. From the Arctic to Yosemite National Park, a select group of thrill-seeking adventurers finds climbing respite in dangling tents, called Portaledges.

What happens if a tumbling boulder severs the ropes to which the tents are secured? Are sleeping climbers jolted awake during a nightmarish free fall towards certain death? Luckily, no. Climbers are always harnessed to an anchor independent from the tent’s anchor.

Just in case.

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