Climbers jumping a gap known as the 'Leap Of Faith' on 14,000ft Colorado mountain

This heart-stopping headcam footage shows two hikers risking life and limb by jumping across a notorious gap high up on the 14,000ft Maroon Bells Peaks in Colorado – a range that’s claimed many lives.

The Leap Of Faith separates Maroon Peak from North Maroon Peak and requires nerves of steel as the rocks on either side are loose – and the mountain is extremely steep on either side at this point.

The video begins with one climber gearing himself up to jump before leaping safely across and turning around to encourage his friend to do the same.

However, tensions are high because the first climber sends several rocks tumbling down the mountainside.

‘Rocks!’ he yells, as his friend watches nervously from the other side.

The clip then switches to footage showing the first climber’s leap, with the other climber frantically clambering back to move away from the falling rocks.

The mountains are so treacherous that they have been named The Deadly Bells.

It was a description that was first used in 1965 when eight people died in five separate climbing accidents on the range.

Last year a Colorado climber died of blood loss and his friend injured after they wandered off the trail on their descent of North Maroon Peak.

Jarod Wetherell, 37, was hiking with his friend David Richardson when they became separated.

Sheriff's Deputy Michael Kendrick told Post Independent at the time: 'They climbed up South Maroon and traversed over to North Maroon.

'On their way down from North, they got off trail.

'There are a lot of places you can get off trail coming down.

'The only way you know for sure what the trail was is if you went up that way.

'They didn't go up that way. They were coming back down a trail they had never been on.'

Kendrick said the climbers ended up off the trail and fell down one of the gulleys.

'They were not roped together and fell separately at different times,' Kendrick said.

(dailymail.co.uk)