Man dismantled his staircase before realizing he forgot hispassport upstairs — his Craigslist fix was pure genius
To those who agreed to help, the man offered $150 and discounted LASIK eye surgery packages
Craigslist is a place where internet users share the wildest postings, ranging from bizarre requests to downright unsettling ads. Wilder Troxell (@wilderoneandonly), a professional climber, shared a video taking on one of those unusual requests.
A friend sent him a Craigslist posting from a man who needed two experienced climbers to retrieve his passport from the bedroom on the top floor of his townhouse, so that he could go on a cruise with his wife to the Caribbean.
He had removed the spiral staircase in his townhouse and had no access to his bedroom. So Troxell brought along fellow climber Danny to see if they could climb up and retrieve it. The post has reached 2.1 million viewers on Instagram and been liked by 193K people so far.
When Troxell and Danny arrived at the man's house, they scoped the area so they could figure out how to climb to the top without injuring themselves. Troxell demonstrated how they "rigged an anchor" to the stairwell at the front of the house to prevent them from falling.
They began climbing from the second floor, putting the ladder on the ledge where the staircase used to be. The two young men were well-prepared, and though the climb was not easy, they found ways and means to overcome obstacles such as the hot radiator. They had to climb two storeys up to get to the man's bedroom.
After Troxell safely climbed up to the man's bedroom, he collected his backpack, an overnight bag, and his international driver's license. The man also gave Troxell the code to his personal safe, where the passport was, and even grabbed a few dresses for his wife. The house owner wanted to thank them and celebrate at the same time with drinks.
In addition to the three shots Danny drank, they were also paid $150 and were given discounted LASIK eye surgery vouchers in case they ever decide to get it. Troxell concluded the video saying, "This has to be the most I've ever been paid to trad climb."
Craigslist is an online platform where people can post advertisements for services, items, jobs, housing, resumés, community services, and many more. It was founded by Craig Newmark in 1995 and had over 560 million visitors by 2023.
A Statista report revealed that in 2025, the United States became one of the countries with the highest traffic to the website. 95.31% of the visitors were Americans, followed by Canada at around 3.3%.
Several of the people in the comments found the incident hilarious and unbelievable because of how strange the request was. @sylfigureditout said, "That's some pretty extreme precautions for leaving on vacation. I just usually lock my windows and doors."
@niko_figueroa wrote, "This is so fricking cool on both sides of the transaction! Dude honestly could’ve just bought a ladder (and return if it’s one-time use) and saved a bit, but instead hired you guys, who were cool as f*ck with him and helped him get what he needed. Hats off to you fellas."
You can follow Wilder Troxell (@wilderoneandonly) on Instagram for more short-storytelling and lifestyle-related content.
More on Scoop Upworthy
This brutally funny Craigslist ad for a 1999 Toyota Corolla is one everybody needs to see asap
Man hires woman to slap him every time he goes on Facebook, and Elon Musk can't get enough of it
Share on Facebook
