I am a mentor in Southern Maryland - Team 836 - this hint actually strikes me as something that happens around here. Each summer, at the US Naval Academy, the plebes have to climb an obelisk and put a "cap" on the top. This hint sounds very similar to what the plebes have to do. Here is an excerpt from an NPR article on this event.
The first-year students of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., graduated from plebe to third-class status on Thursday. All they have left to do is climb the Herndon Monument, a 21-foot, gray obelisk.
That is not an easy task. Upper classmen lather the monument with 200 pounds of lard. The plebes must work together to climb to the top of the monument and replace a white, plebe "Dixie cup" hat with an upperclassman's hat.
Here is the link to the article, and the picture of them climbing the obelisk.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=10258246
So to echo several other posts - sounds like a king of the hill competition to me as well! Come to the Chesapeake Regional to see the real thing - the obelisk, that is!
