32 Glorious Pictures Of Shirtless Navy Freshmen Climbing A Lard-Covered Pole

    Witness America in all its greased-up glory.

    For the culturally unaware... The Herndon Climb is an annual tradition at the Annapolis Naval Academy in which members of the freshmen class, AKA "plebes," climb a lard-covered monument to retrieve the Plebe 'dixie cup' hat and replace it with an upperclassmen's hat, marking the end of wearing freshman headgear and moving up to headgear more like a U.S. Naval officer.

    But really, it's just about getting nearly naked and climbing a wet, greasy pole. For America.

    1.

    2.

    3.

    4.

    5.

    6.

    7.

    8.

    9.

    10.

    11.

    12.

    13.

    14.

    15.

    16.

    17.

    18.

    19.

    20.

    21.

    22.

    23.

    24.

    25.

    26.

    27.

    28.

    And, for good measure, here's a few shots from last year's climb...

    29.

    30.

    31.

    32.