With a new rigid vang installed I needed to get rid of the topping lift. It took 30 minutes to crawl up that 42' mast but I finally made it! Now no more dreaded topping lift. It took some real effort to get back down but I found that holding onto the mast real tight kept me from sliding too fast. One thing is for sure, the top of the mast is a LOT higher up from up there than on the deck! Chris