retain the stiles 22 in relative position and to provide a broad platform 24 c there between the ladder 20 further includes couplers 26 to couple the ladder 20 to a structure s to be traversed not shown for example a ship or the ground g not shown depending on the nature of the coupling desired u2014 fixed flexible slideable rotatable permanent temporary safety primary secondary redundant etc u2014 the particulars of the coupler 26 will vary a coupler might for example include a shackle lug eye fastener magnet tie clasp grapple adhesive bushing bearing or the like the couplers may be stile couplers 26 a or crosspiece couplers 26 b a stile coupler 26 a is adapted to couple an end or an intermediate section of a stile 22 to the structure s or the ground g a crosspiece coupler 26 b is adapted to couple a crosspiece 24 to the structure s fig3 shows a ladder 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention wherein rungs 24 a extending between the first stile 22 a and the second stile 22 b are not coplanar with rungs 24 a extending between the first stile 22 a and the third stile 22 c and neither are coplanar with.