I was out walking today and came across this guy hanging from a rope below a bridge.
They were two local teenagers who have been practicing a new sport I think they may have invented. He had his feet in a sling and some kind of ratchet on his chest. He would push off the sling with his legs and then ratchet himself up a foot. In no time at all he could climb 40 or 50 feet of rope and come back down.
I yelled up to him “what is that called”. He said “I call it ascending”. I said “is this ‘a thing’ or did you invent it”. He said “I think I invented it”
It made my afternoon
No, he didn’t invent the technique. It’s a long established rope climbing technique. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcUmdGIf21o Never thought to practice it off a bridge.
Jerry you didn’t take a turn?
Alas no and I regret it.
When an old guy who has no idea of what he is doing is hanging from a rope over a river, what could possibly go wrong?
Sounds like a Jumar ascender rig. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascender_(climbing)