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Which sounds better according to British English?

Does climbing down make good sense and is it idiomatic?

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Disclaimer: I'm not a native English speaker, but until some of them arrive here's what I've got:

This Google Ngram shows that all 4 options are fine, with similar frequencies of usage (BrE 2012):

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where climbing is slightly preferred. It probably isn't a BrE/AmE difference, because (according to Google) climbing is a slightly preferred option in AmE as well - see these Ngrams for climbing up vs. going up and climbing down vs. going down.

I'm guessing that you are talking about actual physical ladder (not social or career one). LDOCE seems to prefer climbing:

lad‧der [countable]

1 a piece of equipment used for climbing up to or down from high places.

In conclusion: while climbing up or down is used slightly more often, going up or down is also fine. To your 2nd question: yes, climbing down is definitely idiomatic.

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  • This answer is correct, especially in the fact that either will work. Saying "going" instead of climbing is fine because how you're going doesn't need to be specified. If someone says to me "I'm going down the ladder", I know very well that he's not sliding, flying, jumping, doing backflips or free falling down the ladder. He's obviously climbing down. :)
    – user20827
    Commented Jun 26, 2015 at 8:43

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