Swiss teacher takes on death-defying 1,000ft rock climb using only her hands to haul herself to the summit
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Rahel Schelb, 33, climbing one of the huge cracks in the Li Ming region, in Yunnan Province, China

Faced with a mixture of widening and narrowing cracks presented a different challenge to what Rahel is used to back home in Switzerland.

Rahel, who works as a teacher, said: 'In Switzerland are not that many cracks so it might feel harder for us because we are not used as American climbers would be.

'In crack climbing you use your hands differently compared to the normal climbing where you use holds to climb a route.

'You try to jam your hand in the crack. If the size of the crack fits to the size of your hand, that works quite well.

'If the crack is smaller you use your fingers only trying to jam them. If the crack widens then it gets harder.

'For example I figured out that sometimes I can even use my elbow to jam. Or the whole arm. Sometimes you have half of your shoulder in the crack, trying to jam somehow.

Although the Swiss climber secures ropes as she progresses up the rock, the work is done by hauling herself by cracks in the surfaces