I'm descending a ridge on a long trail with several guys from the climbing club. It's not a real mountain, just a hike, but on the way down I realize how exposed it is - I'm thinking to myself, as though writing a review, that there is about 500 feet of exposure on the one side. On the way up I didn't notice it, but on the descent it's pretty scary.

At one point my feet slip toward the edge and I realize that there is a safety cable to grab onto, partially buried in the rock and scree of the ridge. It appears to be rather old, but strong, and follows the entire length of the exposed part of the trail.

We get down to the end of the ridge and I'm thinking about this cable, which has now become a pale brown rope, like one might use to tie down a tarp. I'm wondering how long it's been there, but then my friend Eric pulls in into a pile around his feet, and it's become a rather ragged red climbing rope that he says belongs to him. But it is in very poor condition, probably not safe to use for a climbing rope. I suggest that he might submit it to the club for rope inspection (an annual event that in real life is coming up next week), not that they would use it, but that they would cut it up for use in knot-tying practice.