As far as I am aware, there is no speed limit for grabbing on to ladders.
This leads me to a fascinating idea / challenge:
1) Construct a surface base on any airless body, composed of a large structure covered strategically in ladders.
Note: for reliability, have sets of ladders just like aircraft carriers have multiple arresting cables in case the first one doesn't grab. Clipping them together into one giant ladder should help a lot.
2) Have a Kerbal in orbit, with PE > 0
3) Press / madly hammer the F key with proper timing to grab the ladder and deorbit the Kerbal.
4) Points are proportional to the surface gravity of the body. (Gilly and Minmus are restricted to participation ribbons since the EVA pack alone is more than sufficient there.)