[jQuery] selector question: how many ul above $(this) ?

[Alexandre Plennevaux]

hello mates,

i have a multiple level dropdown menu, the markup is an unordered list
of the likes:

<ul>
<li><a href="#">me</a>
          <ul><li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                     <li><a href="#">me</a>
                           <ul><li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                                 <li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                                 <li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                          </ul>
                    </li>
                    <li><a href="#">me</a></li>
           </ul></li>
<li><a href="#">me</a>
             <ul><li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                     <li><a href="#">me</a>
                           <ul><li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                                 <li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                                 <li><a href="#">me</a></li>
                          </ul>
                    </li>
                    <li><a href="#">me</a></li>
           </ul>
</li>

<li><a href="#">me</a></li>
</ul>

Imagine i click in the link 3 levels down the list. Can someone tell
me how i can find the value "3", meaning, the amount of parent ul?
i tried

                var $thisA = $(this);
                var $thisLI = $thisA.parent();
                var $thisMenu = $thisLI.parent();
                var $thisSubmenu = $thisLI.children('ul');

var thisMenuLevelInt = $thisLI.parents().index($thisMenu[0]);

but that always returns 0.


Your help is as usual, *much* appreciated !

Alexandre