Ascending cam

An ascending cam comprising:

• a cam body having a cam face;
• said cam face further comprising a concave working surface running along a working length, a plurality of parallel ridges in the concave working surface and perpendicular to the working length, and a crested curb on each side of the concave working surface running along the working length;
• said cam face further comprising a bottom bite end;
• and
• a safety lever means pivotally attached to the bottom bite end.

An improvement for a winch having an elongate body, a pair of pulleys at each end of the elongate body, a 4:1 leveraged rope threaded through the pulleys, said rope having a crank end, a braking assembly having a rope guide, a wedge, a retaining wall and a cam, the improvement comprising:

• said cam having a concave working surface running parallel and co-planar with the rope;
• said concave working surface having a pair of peripheral edges;
• said concave working surface having a plurality of ridges perpendicular to the rope and a pair of crested curbs running along the peripheral edges;
• said cam having a bottom bite end with a safety lever means;
• said retaining wall permanently affixed to the elongate body;
• and
• means for manually latching the safety lever means to the retaining wall and means to remotely release the safety lever means therefrom, functioning to provide a brake as the rope is pressed against the wedge by the cam.