Reading the description over again, I think that it is economical enough to resolve the suggestion; feel free to re-open the case if you find anything you still feel falls on the extraneous side :)

I did a quick pare-down -- I might go back and cut things down even more but it's a lot less intimidating for the time being!

Should be all set!

Should be fixed now.

Got too excited :) Fixing now! Thanks again Paul!

Good point! Fixing now..

Thanks Paul! Your slings and arrows are very much appreciated ;) You are absolutely right, I sort of went into writing mode and never really stepped back to look at it with fresh eyes. I will commence operation Hemingway and separate the story from the logic ASAP.

Nice kata! I think it could be a little clearer with its instructions, however; instead of saying 'climbing up to x meters,' maybe something more along the lines of 'climbing up the bamboo "x" amount of meters every day?' I was just a little confused when I saw the "to" in there, my first reaction was that it was climbing to the 'x' height everyday; ie, no matter what the current position, the worm was climbing to '10', if 'x' was passed '10' as its argument. Just a little confusing on first read; otherwise, great job :)