public AnyType findMax( )
 {
     if( isEmpty( ) )
         throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException( );

     SkipNode<AnyType> current = header;
     for( ; ; )
          if( current.right.right != tail )
              current = current.right;
          else if( current.down != bottom )
              current = current.down;
          else
              return current.element;
 }