It was a creative choice to remove ladders from this particular module. Ladder logic takes a LOT of ROM space. I used that space for other things in this particular module...the prize box, etc.
There will most certainly be more involved platforming modules - ones that have scrolling, ladder physics, function more akin to megaman/function more akin to mario/function more akin to castlevania, etc etc etc. And if you keep working through these tutorials, especially when we start dabbling in the code in simple ways, your ability to add these features where you want them will also be much easier