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Did you have to climb a rope in Physical Education or any other educational class?

And if you did what class grade/year would it had happened? What decade (if your comfortable sharing)?

I am wondering how many people actually did this and from what locations/ages/years it would have happened. For my education (American elementary-college years 2000’s-2010’s) I never had to do that. I feel like I had to be common enough that it is referenced in movies and tv shows.

34 comments
  • Yep. USian public school, middle school in the early 90's. I think I was.. 12 or 13. Never managed it because I had zero upper arm strength so I couldn't even get my feet onto the knot on the bottom.

  • Yup. Canada, early 90s. Up to the gymnasium ceiling and big jump to the crash mats. Only once it twice though. I found it extremely difficult and struggled all the way. Some of my classmates were able to do it no sweat.

    As for age. Under 11. So, maybe 9 o 10?

    • That's wild to imagine! Any recollection of how high up those ceilings might have been? The gyms I remember in the US had ceilings that were something like 2 or 3 stories high, if I had to guess. That strikes me as quite the height to jump for a fitness test. Just for the height factor alone I can't picture myself having the guts back then to do it. Dunno if I'd even have 'em now 😨.

      • Probably around 2 stories. Mrs. Klinghammer, the gym teacher, was a little intense at times.

  • I did in US middle school (8th grade, 2008 or 2009) but it was a knotted rope, so the knots acted as footholds, making it much easier. Also there was a marker 10' or so up and we weren't supposed to pass it to avoid fall injuries. Very nerfed from the archetypical gym class rope climb. As a severely out of shape nerd I still struggled with it :']

  • yep elementary school in the 90's. we rang a little bell when we got to the top. it was fun!

  • We used to here in the UK! At a guess I was probably 10 and this was in the 90s

  • No, not really. Graduated from high school in California in 2017. Both my middle and high school, however, had the equipment and stations on hand. It feels relevant to mention we also had what looked like climbing pegboard stations: boards on a wall that'd go something like 6 – 10 ft., 1.8 – 3m high that someone would climb with pegs. We didn't use those, either.

    There might've been one or a few times that my freshman PE teacher had us climb or swing on a rope as part of a circuit? He had the good graces, at least, to give the rope foot and hand knots to work with. That was definitely an exception, however, and wasn't part of anything mandated by the district nor the state. Pretty wild, though. I kinda wish my schools did more to push that. I sure wasn't the athletic type, but my arm strength could've benefitted from it.

  • I was supposed to sometime in Junior High- 7th or 8th grade- which would have been early 1980s. I decided I was getting my period that day because I knew I would not make it one inch up the rope, and that it would also involve my gym teacher screaming at me in front of everyone. I had already deal with years of humiliation during any task requiring arm strength. It was during the six-week period that we worked on gymnastics, which was a complete horrorshow for this dyspraxic. We learned forward roll (which I could just about do), cartwheels (failed), handovers (failed), rings (failed), rope (didn't participate), and a few other floor moves that I don't remember.

    Thank heavens they let me sub marching band for my PE credits in high school. Though, I didn't march either, I was sidelined because I could not stay in step. Dyspraxia is a removed.

  • Yes, middle school late 90s, northeast us. I made it to the top, but I was in gymnastics for most of Elementary school so I was really strong from that for a good decade after I quit 😆 I was also able to do pull ups in high school too (15ish) which from what I understand is typically difficult for girls. Now I can't even do a single push up fml 😞 maybe I can change that before I hit 40 lol

    Our high school also had a huge rock wall in the gym which was pretty cool, but we only did it for like a week one year

  • Maybe one time? I know there was a rope in a gym at one school I went to. Would've been one of the middle schools I attended (which was an old high school). So like 97-00 or so, in the suburban/exurban US Midwest.

    But I got the feeling it was just something we did for fun one day. It wasn't required by any means. And that's the only time I can think of attempting a rope climb. I never touched a rope in PE/Physical Fitness classes ever again, or even saw one in another school.

34 comments