Navy plebes to climb greased monument in what could be a tradition on its last legs

Naval plebe monument climb could be on last legs

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — As they have for 70 years, students at the U.S. Naval Academy are preparing to scale a 21-foot obelisk to celebrate the end of their grueling first year. But the school is making the tradition safer.

For years, the monument was slathered in lard to make it harder to climb. This year, it isn’t greased.

The head of the academy in Annapolis, Md., Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, said earlier this month that the school could end the climb entirely, but offered no timeframe for doing so. The decision will rest with Fowler’s successor, who was nominated by the Obama administration in April.

The climb has caused minor injuries in the past. A group of first-year students, or “plebes,” forms a human pyramid and hoists a peer their shoulders so he can place an officer’s hat on the tip of the obelisk.