Need a way to gain some altitude? Want to do so in an artful but dangerous fashion? Consider the torqued cable-stay ladder I recently built, dubbed “Crusoe.”

This object was assembled from mixed materials: an existing 5′ ladder upper segment recycled from a bunk bed, a hand-made lower segment reinforced with carbon spars, four Timberlok screws and about 25′ of quarter-inch jute rope.

The rope transmits flex from the segmented rails to the anchor points on the hanger and foot of the ladder. They are bow-string taught to reduce stretch, achieved by the two torque pegs pictured here:

Rail segment sheering is prevented by a healthy dose of wrapping and pegs.

Due to the relatively high probability that climbing this ladder will result in catastrophic failure, severe injury and/or death, do not try this at home.