Cliff camping: the scariest night's sleep you’ll ever get

Fancy sleeping in a tent while attached to a cliff? If you wake up feeling refreshed after a night of cliff camping, you’re braver than most

Don't look down: cliff camping is something you should try at least once in your lifetime Photo: © Comstock Images

By Tim Gibson

9:24AM BST 08 Jul 2015

^{#WhyNot get moving by going cliff camping?}

There’s nothing like good night’s sleep at the end of a day in the hills. After all that physical exertion, you’ll probably think your body could settle down anywhere and recoup the energy you’ve expended.

Then again, you probably haven’t ever strapped yourself to the side of a cliff and tried to get some shut-eye.

That’s exactly what cliff camping involves, however, and it’s definitely an experience to include on your bucket list.

There can’t be many other ways of combining the innately restful experience of sleeping with an adrenalin-fuelled adventure. For that reason alone, it’s something you should try at least once, if only so you can impress friends and colleagues with tales of your night spent at hundreds of feet above terra firma.

Cliff camping involves pretty much exactly what its name suggests: sleeping in a makeshift tent while attached to a cliff. The most obvious question to ask about it is why anyone thinks it’s a good idea, before wondering whether you have the courage to give it a go.

Of course, there’s not much room to move, and going to the loo is by no means straightforward

The origins of this peculiar sleeping arrangement lie in the world of gnarly alpine-style mountaineers. Rather than clambering part-way up a mountain and then returning to camp at a lower altitude while their body acclimatises, alpine climbers try to make the summit in one hit, carrying their own kit along the way.

On longer climbs, that often involves grabbing some rest during the ascent. And if you’re traversing a sheer rock face, the only option is to sleep on the spot.

Accommodation is usually provided in the form of a metal-framed fabric ledge that is attached to the cliff face, or a giant sling that’s suspended from a piton. These hammock-like structures offer protection from the elements, meaning it’s possible to stay warm and dry, even in pouring rain.

Of course, there’s not much room to move, and going to the loo is by no means straightforward. But such inconveniences are all a part of the adventure - and if you choose the right people to share it with, you’ll form a memory to last a lifetime.

Only highly experienced climbers should attempt to establish their own cliff camp. For the rest of us, a company in Wales offers the chance to try it out on cliffs near Anglesey.

Gaia Adventures offers a cliff-camping experience for up to three people at a time, and will even hoist a hot breakfast down to guests when they wake from their slumbers.

Not that you’d expect to get much sleep if you spend the night balancing on the side of a Welsh cliff. Which is probably a good thing: after all, who wants to sleep when you could be admiring the scenery from a vantage point that is as unique as it is thrilling?

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/why-not/11691257/what-is-cliff-camping.html