Watch: This 43-year-old Chinese ‘Spider-Woman’ climbs cliffs without safety gear

A 43-year-old resident from China’s Guizhou province has been dubbed “Spider-Woman” for her extraordinary free solo climbing skills.

Featured in a September Weibo post by Shandong TV, Luo Dengpin has scaled a 108-meter cliff effortlessly with her bare hands. As a member of the Miao ethnic group, Luo’s skills stem from an ancient practice of high-altitude burials, which were practiced based on the belief that the deceased can “look toward their ancestral homeland.”

Affirming that “men and women are equal,” she began climbing at 15 alongside her father, who initially hesitated to teach her the tradition because she is a woman. Luo is reportedly the only female practitioner of the male-dominated tradition, which is currently used to gather herbs and bird droppings.

Although she once moved away to find a job, she returned to her hometown in 2000 to start a family and continue the tradition. Now, she uses her skills to earn money by demonstrating to tourists how to scale cliffs without safety gear.