Earliest use by cavers of electron ladders

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mikem

Well-known member
Apparently they kept 150 northern coal miners working, & still produce "aerospace, defence, specialised automotive, space and motorsport" parts (although under a different name): https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Magnesium_Elektron

So it's difficult to say now whether de Joly's rungs were actually Elektron or just named that because they were 75% lighter than rope models (& that was the lightest commercially available material he knew of)
 
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mikem

Well-known member
He certainly had the right contacts - from de Joly's obituary (well worth a read): https://www.yrc.org.uk/journal-and-...journal-1970-vol-10-no-35/journal-v10n35p384/
"As soon as he had got his Engineer’s diploma at the Ecole d’Electricite” de Paris he made his home in the south, first at Marseilles, later at Uchaud and finally at Orgnac in the Ardeche.

Throughout his long life de Joly had three ruling passions; the first was aviation and even more so, motor cars. In the early years of the century he used to take part in motor rallies on the dusty roads of the period and in the last year of his life he acquired a superb Porsche which he used to drive round the twisty roads of Ardeche at 200 Km. per hour. The second was firearms, especially pistol shooting, at which he excelled. It was not until he was in his forties that he began seriously to devote himself to the third and eventually the strongest, the exploration of gulfs and caverns."
 
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mikem

Well-known member
May need to rethink this earliest example thing (from Wikipedia entry for ladder):
"Ladders are ancient tools and technology. A ladder is featured in a Mesolithic rock painting that is at least 10,000 years old, depicted in the Spider Caves in Valencia, Spain. The painting depicts two humans using a ladder to reach a wild honeybee nest to harvest honey. The ladder is depicted as long and flexible, possibly made out of some sort of grass."
 
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