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You wouldn't want to be a fidgety sleeper if you had to stay in these bed.

Anchored to the mountainside, 1,300ft in the air, these gloried 4ft-wide hammocks are where four daredevil climbers slept while scaling a new route up a Venezuelan mountain.

The team of mountain climbers spent a marathon ten days scaling the 2,000ft high Acopan Tepui, which is part of Venezuela's fearsome Chimanta mountain range.

Don't look down: Eric Deschamps takes in the view while perched precariously on a climbing bed fixed to the mountainside

Hanging out: Eric Deschamps relaxes on his tiny bunk despite the terrifying drop below (L) and sleeps under the stars by night (R)

They depended on specially-designed climbing beds, which they anchored to the vertical rockface, for rest after each exhausting day's climbing.

Blake McCord, Joel Unema, Eric Deschamps and Luis Cisneros from Flagstaff, Arizona, climbed in staggered shifts from sunrise to sunset, sleeping
for 10 hours a night.

Mr McCord, 24, the team's photographer, said sleeping in the secured bivy is an experience best reserved for those with a head for heights.

He said: 'It is unnerving but, like anything, the more you do it, the more you get used to it and it gets easier. The beds themselves are actually quite cosy.'

Hanging out: While scaling the rockface, the climbers still had to rest, employing suspended platforms to help them take a break

Sheer drop: Luis Cisnero (L) hitches equipment up to the next camp while suspended from the rockface, while Joel Unema (R) tackles a particulalry dramatic climb

Rocky route: The four climbers said a highlight of the trip was waking up everyday to spectacular panoramic views

Each bed fits two people sleeping top-to-tail, who are strapped in harnesses to prevent them falling out. There are no safety nets between the beds and the stomach-churning drop to the jungle canopy below.

The team members made their way up the moutainside by taking turns to take up the slack of the ropes which brought packs of equipment and the collapsable beds up from beneath them as they inched toward the summit. In total, the climb took 10 days.

They survived on a diet of oatmeal, freeze-dried meals, spaghetti, cheese and tortillas.

Mr McCord said: 'Waking up every morning to that view was incredible.

'After a full day's climbing it didn't take long before we fell off to sleep. We were exhausted.'

On top of the world: The team reached the summit after 10 days climbing and camping out on the precarious rockface in their shared bunks

New route: Joel was part of the four-man team trying to find a new way to scale Acopan Tepui over a 10-day climb

Head for heights: Luis

Anticipation: Eric Deschamps and Luis Cisneros look at the sheer mountain as they hike towards it before attempting their 10-day climb

The group scaled the mountain using a route which had never been attempted before. They have named the route they discovered 'Gravity Inversion'
because of the steep nature of the climb.

Mr McCord said: 'Getting to the top, and looking out at an expanse of untouched natural beauty, felt amazing.

'It also felt great to take my harness off, which I had been wearing for several days straight.'

The team completed their impressive feat in January this year. The first route up Acopan Tepui was recorded in 2002.