Yeah! YEAH!!
Still doing this too!! I may be spinning a lot of plates, but they ALL spinning.
almost.
I like climbing as a skill. I once messed with a made-to-lose fight by climbing onto a black dragons back and hitting it in the eyes constantly.
Here's a thing- if you MUST include a made-to-lose fight (one that you wont budge on regardless of how well the players do) make it a cutscene. Don't waste you players time, mana, potions and skills, right? Right.