A mountaineer is on a ledge 20 meters above the ground. It has:
- a 15 meter rope,
- a knife,
- a firm ring next to him,
- and another similar ring located 10 meters below. How can he go down to the ground wearing only that?
Home > Riddles > The alpinista and the rope corta
The alpinista and the rope corta
A rescue piece in two stages: it does not win by raw difficulty, but by the way in which it converts an absolute scarcity into a possible sequence.
Hints
Show hints
- Don't try to reach the ground in one go.
- Cutting the rope doesn't ruin the solution: it makes it possible.
- The good idea is to use the short piece to create a foothold halfway down and the long piece to reach the middle ring first.
Solution
Show full solution
The 15 meter rope is not enough to go down 20 meters directly, but it is enough if used in two stages. The mountaineer cuts the rope into two pieces: one of 10 meters and another of 5 meters.
With the 5 meter piece, make an eyelet or passing point that hangs from the upper ring. Pass the 10 meter piece through this eyelet, so that the long section is folded and allows you to descend first to the intermediate ring, located 10 meters below.
Once there, tie one end of the 10-meter length to the middle ring and then pull the other end to remove the rope from the top eyelet. Thus, the 10 meter section is completely recovered and hanging from the intermediate ring.
Since there are exactly 10 meters from that ring to the ground, you can go down that section and reach the ground.
Related riddles
Keep practicing
If you enjoyed this one, try more pure-logic riddles, explore this theme, browse the full archive, or read the riddle-solving guide.