Luo Dengping earned the title of “Spider Woman” as the only woman from a group of men who climbs cliffs in Guizhou Province, China without any kind of safety harness or equipment whatsoever.
In Southwest China, the men of the Miao people had the tradition of free-climbing steep cliffs. It started as a burial tradition, where they would carry coffins of the dead on steep cliffs or in small caves.
Over the years, the practice fell into obscurity. However, the men in the village still continued climbing the vertical cliffs of Ziyun, this time to collect medicinal plants to cure conditions such as rheumatism and asthma.
Source: China.com
With the rise of Western medicine however, the spider men of Miao had been struggling to make ends meet to support their families.
Lou has been a daughter of a spiderman herself, however, due to the fact that she has no brothers to carry this ancient tradition, she began climbing the steep cliffs on her own at the young age of 15 years old. Several years have passed, and she began to master the skill. Today, Lou and the rest of the spider-men have been climbing mostly for tourist purposes.
Source: China.com
When asked about her thoughts of being the only woman to do such dangerous climbing stunts, she replied, “I think men and women are equal, if men can do it, I can do it too,”
Indeed, truly amazing! Check out the video below:
