Getting jiggy with the rope

This is the Marpo Kinetics VMX Multi-Mode Rope Climber that Ed King threw me on today for our training session. No, that's not me in the picture, in case that's a source of curiosity. Ed just bought it for his gym and was excited for me to give it a try. I worked at it for 2 minute intervals, alternating with a tricep exercise on a cable machine. The 4 sets I completed provided both cardio and strength benefits. The rope climber is an interesting contraption, offering a range of tension levels and a variety of positions from which to use it (vertical, horizontal and diagonal). The objective is to "climb" the rope with your hands, pulling it down with each grasp. Since it's on a loop, you never reach the end. It was intense but not overwhelming, however, at higher tension levels, I'd be wiped out. Essentially, the formula for the rope climber is New Equipment = Novelty = Fun. We stayed away from the quads today because, as expected, I couldn't walk right for 2 1/2 days after the Thursday workout. I might add that, despite coming down with a cold on Friday and not working out for the past 3 days, the scale has gone down by a pound and a half which I'm going to assume is the loss of fat and not muscle. I consider this a small victory and I'm happy to accept such a thing wherever I can find it.