Rope climbing. Spiders are very inspirative animals – Arachne in Greek mythology, Iktomi in Lakota mythology, Spider-Man in modern comics, World Wide Web. Spiders are also well known as excellent climbers. Rope climbing is also a human sport in which competitors attempt to climb up a suspended vertical rope using only their hands. Between 1896 and 1932, rope climbing represented a discipline of Olympic games. In 1924, in Paris, Czech representative Bedřich Šupčík won a golden medal in climbing on a rope to the height of eight metres. Enthusiasts in the Czech Republic resurrected this sport in 1993, and hold local and national competitions. I would like to encourage arachnologists to be active in this discipline, which is so typical for spiders! |