portaledge

A portaledge is a deployable hanging tent system designed for rock climbers who spend multiple days and nights on a big wall climb. An assembled portaledge is a fabric-covered platform surrounded by a metal frame that hangs from a single point and has adjustable suspension straps. A separate cover, called a stormfly, covers the entire system in the event of bad weather. History 1950–1960 Rock climber Warren Harding slept on natural ledges during his first ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1958. 1960–70 The multiple-day routes on El Capitan pushed climbers to invent structures for sleeping. They began securing traditional two-point hammocks to cliff walls. Warren Harding invented the first hammock suspended from a central point, which he called a B.A.T. (Basically Absurd Technology) Tent. Central suspension facilitates deployment, prevents the tipping that occurs with two-point hammocks, and has since been integrated into every significant big wall sleeping structure. Harding almost died during his 1968 attempt on Half Dome in Yosemite after being trapped in a three-day storm, where his B.A.T Tent was filled with freezing rain and snow. Single-point hammocks allowed little sleep because they offered no weather resistance and crushed climber's shoulders.