Claw Clip Foothold

I scrambled out from behind my envelope tent and sized up the sheer concrete face of the fifth riser. Scrambling up bare stone wasn't efficient, but right beside the baseboard lay an abandoned plastic hair claw clip with its metal coil spring completely intact! I pried open the interlocking teeth using both curved hands, hoisted the clip against the iron baluster spindle, and let the jaws snap shut around the rod. Snap! The plastic teeth bit hard into the painted metal with zero slippage. Stepping onto the flat hinge gave me the exact vertical boost I needed to haul myself cleanly onto the fifth tread!