So, the ladder that we started building to climb up to the loft area in BaanRimNaam is nearly complete. It is more heavy duty than I expected. Maybe a little over-engineered. But it is still removable. And it is as sturdy as you can possibly imagine.

But most importantly, it is incredibly functional and fun, too!

I have been excited like a little kid to try climbing it ever since we stumbled across the picture of an alternating tread ladder on the net. And here it is with Praew climbing it:

The step height is almost 30cm per step, but since it is alternating, there is almost 60cm between the neighboring steps on one side. This is pretty cool since my knee slides up under the next step, making it really easy to climb. The lean is about 65 degrees, so it isn’t quite vertical. And it gives you almost 30cm horizontal (about 12 inches) between a lower step and the next one up on the same side. This makes it feel nothing like a ladder.

In fact, I can climb it without using my hands to hold on, although I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. The real big surprise is that I can actually climb down with my back to the ladder pretty comfortably. Praew was less comfortable with this, probably because her legs are a little shorter, but we are going to build rails on both sides in the next week or two, and I think she will find it pretty easy to climb down once we do. And then we need to give it a nice lacquer.

Anyway, here is another picture:

And here is a view from the loft:

Well, it isn’t as scary as it looks in the picture.