# The Emperor's New Groove "ravine climb": Is the first part theoretically possible?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 24, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293 "2021-09-24T20:03:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293/1 "2021-09-24T20:03:31Z")

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[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XQxqaAvVNA)

In the Disney movie _The Emperor’s New Groove_, Kuzco and Pacha both fall down a ravine and end up crashing back to back, with their legs touching opposite sides of the ravine. They hook their arms together and are able to climb partway up the ravine, before a clearly ridiculous series of events enables them to get the rest of the way up. (We’re not talking about that; that’s pure cartoon physics).

But the hooking-the-arms-together to climb up a ravine back-to-back: Is that theoretically possible?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293/2 "2021-09-24T20:11:44Z")

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Absolutely. Do a YouTube search for back to back climbing and you’ll get some hits. Posting from phone so no links.

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**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293/3 "2021-09-24T21:19:46Z")

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Yes. Done it. It’s unstable, but do-able.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293/4 "2021-09-24T23:40:34Z")

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Yep - here’s one - looks like the kid on the left faceplanted the wall when they came back down

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cRp2V6NttRY/hqdefault.jpg "Kevin and Aaron wall climb") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRp2V6NttRY)

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**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-emperors-new-groove-ravine-climb-is-the-first-part-theoretically-possible/951293/5 "2021-09-25T04:40:18Z")

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Not exactly the same, but I have a photo of my dad, taken in the late 40’s, where he’s doing a “chimney climb” between two of the rocks in Stonehenge.

Those were the days.

That’s a common mountain climbing maneuver. In the Emperor’s case, it’s just a two-person version.