Something extremely heavy at the anywhere on a falling ladder hits the ground at the same speed with or without the ladder, whether or not the ladder slips.
If it's not at the top, the top has to be going faster than normal to achieve this.
Without the extremely heavy weight, the CG of the ladder serves to impart the same tendency on the direction of change, answering the question of faster or slower : the tip is going faster than it would just falling straight down. The CG itself must therefore be going slower. Somewhere between the CG and the tip is going the same speed at impact with or without ladder.
