Порталеджи: Развитие подвесных платформ для восхождений по большим стенам

Deployable platform in big wall climbing

A portaledge is a deployable hanging tent system designed for rock climbers who need to spend multiple days and nights on a climbing route suspended from a sheer rock face while big wall climbing. A fully assembled portaledge is a fabric covered platform surrounded by a metal frame that hangs from a single anchor point via carabiners and has adjustable suspension straps. A separate cover—called a stormfly—covers the entire system to give protection in the event of bad weather. The first portaledges were created for climbing in Yosemite.

Rock climber Warren Harding slept on natural ledges during his first ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1958.

During the early 1970s, climbers Billy Westbay and Bruce Hawkins created the first portaledges by re appropriating steel and canvas cots stolen from park lodges in Yosemite. These were a vast improvement from single point hammocks with regard to comfort, but they were not collapsible and weighed up to thirty kilograms (almost three times the weight of today's models). During this period climbers also used Submarine Ledges, made from U. S. Navy aluminum tube cots that had been purchased from army surplus stores. A5 portaledges were constructed of highly weatherproof fabrics and engineered to be structurally stable and strong. The company produced three models: the Single, the Alpine Double, and the Cliff Cabana. The A5 portaledges were the first that could withstand the severe weather conditions in remote areas such as the Himalayas and the Karakoram, enabling climbers to expand their horizons to the largest rock faces in the world. Middendorf himself used A5 portaledges on some of the hardest and remote big walls of the world, including during the first ascent of The Grand Voyage on the Great Trango Tower in 1992, the longest vertical big wall (1350m) in the world. The A5 Portaledge was sold worldwide.

In 2017, John Middendorf introduced a new portaledge design, called the D4 Portaledge (82" × 47", 16.5 pounds with haulsack, fly, and flypole). Instead of block corners, which has been the de facto standard since they were first introduced, the new D4 Portaledge has rounded curved tubing corners, which offer more rigidity and are lighter than the traditional block corners. The D4 portaledge brings many more innovations, including a newly engineered hybrid diameter tube design, which provides strength and rigidity without the need for a spreader bar, a new integrated haulsack/deployment system, and a completely simple but new concept for the stormfly—a single vertical zipped opening which enables the quickest deployment while also allowing full opening between storms. Also around this time, Middendorf introduces the D4 "bullet joiner" which is a simple yet effective way to create a joint with overlapping tube strength, and rounded nose for quick self assembling joints. The D4 has been produced in several sizes and besides being lighter and stronger, pack smaller (29" × 10" for the full size D4) than previous designs of portaledges.

In 2020, Middendorf developed the "Delta2p" portaledge, a cantilevered design. Named for its delta shape and 2 person design, this design solved many longstanding issues with portaledges, including improved ergonomics and increased stability. The rigid six piece frame design with curved corners and "D4 bullet joiners" enables quick assembly, and folds compactly. Six prototypes which were sent to Yosemite and the Himalaya for testing, and an additional 42 Delta2p's were crafted in Tasmania in 2020/2021 and distributed worldwide; these weighed 6.5kg. with haulsack and stormfly. Photos and open source design notes available online: See also:

Portaledges have been used by tree sitters during anti logging civil disobedience protests, enabling them to remain aloft in trees for weeks, months, or sometimes years. They are also used in recreational tree camping.