portaledge

English

A climber lying on a portaledge

Etymology

Blend of portable +‎ ledge.

Noun

portaledge (plural portaledges)

1. (climbing) A portable tent system used by rock climbers to sleep in during a climb lasting multiple days.
   • 1999, Conrad Anker, David Roberts, The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 99:

     A ferocious storm kept the two men trapped on a portaledge—an artificial tent platform hung from pitons over the vertical void—for seven days and nights.

   • 2008, Andy Kirkpatrick, Psychovertical, London: Arrow Books, published 2009, →ISBN, page 204:

     [Warren] Harding, renowned for being tough and hard headed, had climbed the route in the days before portaledges, hanging every night in cramped and claustrophobic hammocks called 'Bat tents' which would fill with water when it rained.

   • 2017 August 18, Sasha DiGiulian, “What Life’s Really Like 1,400 Feet Up a Big Wall”, in Outside‎^[1], Chicago, I.L.: Outside, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2023:

     Have you ever been shy to go to the bathroom when you're on a date at someone else's house? Well, when you're living on a portaledge, there's no room for such modesty.

   • 2018 November 27, Dave Davies, quoting Tommy Caldwell, “'It Looked Impossible': New Film Follows Free Climbers Up The 'Dawn Wall'”, in WFSU-TV‎^[2], archived from the original on 2023-04-15:

     It's your little pod, and on El Capitan specifically, you end up spending a tremendous amount of time in these portaledges, it becomes your home. It's where you cook. It's where you sleep. It's where you eat. It's where you go to the bathroom. Anytime you're not climbing, you're in these portaledges.

Further reading

• Portaledge on Wikipedia.Wikipedia