Could a flat rung salmon ladder work?

[zoran]

Currently rungs on the salmon ladder are angled upwards to prevent the bar from  sliding off. Would it be a good idea to flatten the rungs so competitors would have to hold the bar in and prevent it from sliding off while swinging? This would also require a little extra momentum to ensure the bar goes over the rung. Would this be a good way of making the obstacle harder or would it be dangerous? 

[dakohosu]

I think it's a great idea, provided the length of the rungs aren't too small and not super slick like made out of metal, but also not too long that it becomes near impossible to leverage the bar over the rung without just slamming into the underside of it.

It would be a great way to eliminate the less experienced competitors, who tend to use that vintage swinging technique (like Tsukada did in 40), which would obviously result in either a derail if they do it due to the backwards momentum, and given that it's usually to compensate for lack of strength, they'll be eliminated trying to do it the normal way too.

I don't think it would be any more dangerous than the current Salmon Ladder, given that derails have happened before and it's not caused any casualties. Besides, the current SL has a wire attached to the bar to prevent it slamming into your face if you do derail.

One idea that I've seen for a Salmon Ladder I think was called the "Dancing Ladder", where the sets of rungs are free moving and unstable (though connected to one another from the top to prevent them from moving outwards which would render the obstacle impossible). This would be another way to force competitors to do the SL in a much more strictly vertical manner as more swinging would result in the ladder itself moving around.