Sentence:  He was barefoot, but he was wearing his climbing harness and was attached to Telperion with a rope. He unclipped the rope, detaching himself from the tree. He stepped out onto a branch and free-climbed up to Cordaro's hammock. ... He <WSD>laddered</WSD> his way barefoot to the very top of Telperion. He didn't use a rope, and he felt that any hominid with any dexterity could have pulled off the climb. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To ascend (a building, a wall, etc.) using a ladder.