For many people, the thought of climbing a beginner’s artificial rock wall is terrifying enough. Even once someone becomes a practiced climber on a variety of rock faces, most wouldn’t consider spending the night hanging in mid-air. But with the invention of the Portaledge, it has been proven to be a popular form of camping among the climbing community.

A Portaledge is a hanging tent that is deployed by rock climbers when they are ready to take a rest during the climb of a big wall. Many of these expeditions can take weeks, so catching some Zs, despite being mid-climb, becomes necessary.

The tent is a fabric-covered platform with a metal frame that hangs from a single point in the middle. Most climbers choose to also use a storm-fly cover to shield themselves from bad weather.

An article published by the Daily Mail in 2011 features a series of photographs taken by adventure photographer Gordon Wiltsie, 57, who climbs with groups who use Portaledges so he can capture moments that are often unseen. Although the photographer worked as a mountaineering guide in the past, he noted that the climbs he goes on are what many people would call “insane.”

“During this climb [featured in the photographs] it was the Arctic spring so melting snow on both the summit and a ledge midway up the cliff constantly sent rocks and chunks of ice flying down,” he said in the article. “One the size of a car even came crashing down around us. Several times I came within inches of being hit, which almost certainly would have been fatal.”

He mentioned how the climbing team tries to position the camp below an overhang to help shield them from falling rocks.

Wiltsie said, “Camping in the Portaledges is a lot less scary and dangerous than it is climbing outside of them. They’re pretty comfortable and you don’t actually see the drop below. I find it similar to sleeping in a regular tent. You’re always harnessed into a separate anchor from the tent, so I felt quite safe—unless I had to lean out to get food or supplies from our haul bags hanging outside.”

Another Daily Mail article features a man who recently built a chair that allows climbers to make a pit stop during their ascent and take in the scenery.

Utah resident Dallin Smith is an avid climber and industrial engineer who decided to combine his two passions with the creation of the chair that sits 350 feet above the ground in Rock Canyon.

“The chair was a design project I have been working on as I had an excess amount of retired climbing rope lying around,” the 27-year-old told the Daily Mail. “I was trying to figure out how to put it to use and I was originally planning on a type of furniture to place in the living room. However, the more renditions I made, the more it made sense to place something outside.”

The metal-framed rope chair is secured to the rock face by two metal hooks that have been drilled in. Dallin said the chair only took a few weeks to build.

“It took two days just to weave the rope, not to mention, bending and welding the frame, bolting the springs and then hauling it up the mountain,” he said.

Although Dallin and his girlfriend Chelsea have enjoyed taking in the views from the chair, not all Rock Canyon climbers were pleased with the new addition to the wall.

“I left the chair up on the mountain for about a week. But a couple of local climbers were pretty mad about the idea and mentioned they were headed to the mountain to tear it down and throw it in the nearest lake,” he said in the article. “Right now it’s sitting in my garage, and I don’t know what to do with it.”

Dallin said he will most likely sell the chair on eBay.

Check out the video below of climbers using portaledges last fall above Whitewater River.