To make getting to the ladder easier, you can try running off the block first, and then jump and dash. Instead of holding up to grab the ladder, try timing the up button when you are right over the ladder.
I’m trying that out but I hit a bug it seems. When I run off that block and then jump and then dash the screen flickers with bands of white. This happened twice so far and currently it’s so bad it’s covering up most of the screen. I put the device to sleep in case I can grab any logs using the SDK. I have that installed on my Mac.
I’ll see what I can get. I have a video but I don’t have YouTube to post here. It looks like a screen redraw bug because the white horizontal bands only cover the areas that don’t have movement. And even after I exited the game even in the main menu the screen was flickering. So maybe a Play date bug.