How did Gollum escape from Moria ?

[Lastande Took]

Originally Posted by Rumil

Evening all,

another factor to throw into the mix is Gollum's climbing ability.

When caught by Frodo and Sam he was climbing down a rockface headfirst and described somewhere as 'like a spider' so he was evidently really good at rock climbing. Probably a mix of low body weight plus a very strong grip, and long fingers.

If he had to follow the Fellowship after the bridge was destroyed perhaps he climbed around the edge of the room to cross the chasm?

That's an idea. It doesn't seem likely that the Dwarves would try to smooth stone walls they couldn't reach, so Gollum likely found plenty of hand-holds. My question is: was the Ring enough of a lure for Gollum to try climbing on a (presumably) sheer rockface over a nearly infinite chasm? Wouldn't he try some other way first?