One may be at a peak after ropy performance (7)
I believe the answer is:
climber
'peak after ropy performance' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'one may be at a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is found in the answer.
'be' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for climber that I've seen before include "Bonnington" , "Mountaineer" , "Edward Whymper, for example" , "Plant such as ivy" , "Plant that grows up a support" .)