Step 1: Recall the two governing numbers from regulation.
Two limits matter here: how long a winding rope, particularly one used for man riding, is allowed to remain in service overall, its statutory maximum life, and how often, at fixed intervals, its stressed end must be cut back and recapped to remove fatigued and possibly corroded rope.
Step 2: Lay the recapping schedule out along the rope's life.
Regulations require recapping at intervals of not more than six months, and the maximum service life allowed is three and a half years, that is, 42 months. If we mark out recap events every 6 months from installation, we get recaps at 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months, after which the rope reaches its 42 month retirement age.
Step 3: Count how many recapping events that schedule actually contains.
Counting those marked points, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 months, gives exactly six recapping operations across the rope's working life before it must be taken out of service altogether, matching what regulatory practice specifies as the maximum permissible number of recaps.
\[ \boxed{6 \text{ times}} \]