From top to bottom

摘要

A question is posed at the beginning of a training class. Among them is this one: What's the risk to a climber on an extension ladder as the angle of that leaning ladder moves from vertical. In other words, what happens to the climber when the top and bottom are out of alignment? Also, how much of the ladder's ability to support a climber is lost as the ladder slopes to one side or the other? A literature search doesn't even uncover one worthless opinion on that subject, let alone any useful information. However, important information emerged in that training class regarding the bottom end of a ladder, and it is worth sharing.