and are structurally efficient an optional feature seen in fig1 provides a flexible stirrup 22 attached to each of the side rails 4 just above the lowermost rung 8 a variation of this concept can be seen in fig2 amp 23 whereby a ridged step section 21 is provided for interlocking over the lower rung 8 looking now at fig6 amp 7 we see that the tree to ladder step distance can be improved while maintaining side rail configuration we also find that a savings in manufacturing cost can be achieved as a result of using square tubular rails 34 and rungs 32 being bent or curved outwardly the rungs conforming more naturally with the curve of the tree can be cut with perpendicular ends thus the manufacturing cost savings turning now to fig8 we find a method of reducing the ladder structure 40 to an even more compact configuration by having the lower section 41 telescope from within the upper section 43 a snap lock 47 means is provided for maximum adjustment fig9 also utilizes the telescopic features of ladder structure 40 shown in fig8 by providing an intermediate extension section 42 thereby retaining the same overall length when extended by making the ladder more compact for carrying the intermediate section 42 has a stub 45 extending from one end for.