ANNAPOLIS — “Plebes no more!” A tradition that's been going strong for 66 years continues Wednesday. Plebs will work together to climb to the top of the Herndon Monument.
Their goal seems simple enough: replace the pleb cover, sitting atop the monument, with a Midshipman's hat. But in reality, it's no easy task.
It's a vertical climb up the 21-foot monument that will be covered in grease. If that didn't make it difficult enough, the freshmen will also be sprayed with water as they work.
Last year's climb took 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 11 seconds.
The fastest time was in 1972. It only took them a minute and a half. But no grease was used in that climb.
The fastest time with grease was in 1975, when they scaled the monument in 20 minutes.
The longest time was in 1998, which took 4 hours, 5 minutes, and 17 seconds. The plebe cover was glued and taped to the monument.
Wednesday's climb starts at 8 a.m.
The WMAR-2 News team will be there. We'll update with this year's climb time.
