... and when I say 'climbed', I mean it. There are five levels of difficulty for ferratas, ranging from A (the easiest) to E (the hardest). We climbed a D, which meant climbing over 1000 metres up a wall. Not an easy one even - I don't think any climb would be an easy one for me as I'd only climbed about four times in a controlled environment and had never done a via ferrata before that - but an objectively hard one.
... and my hands are blistered from the cold wire — I didn't even know I'd probably need gloves — and I can feel every single muscle in my back. My nails, which were far too long for the adventure, are broken; my lips are swollen from constant licking while trying to concentrate and gather some more strength. My knees turned red and my left elbow doubled in size. I'm surprised I didn't catch a cold, as I was climbing in cold, windy weather (around 5 degrees Celsius), but the adrenaline kicked in at the first wall and I felt hot all the way to the top, even though I was only wearing a sleeveless shirt and a thin tracksuit. I also have a slight pain in my weaker ankle because I misstepped on it a few times while sliding down on the way down.
... and it was the hardest thing I've ever done*. Five times, I found myself clinging to the wall, unable to move forwards or backwards. One of those times, I was trembling and my palms were sweaty and slippery. I could only grip with one leg and my arms felt really weak (bear in mind that under normal circumstances, I can only do one and a half pull-ups). I had to stop for a few minutes to try and calm down, even though I was over 400 metres high and the leg that I was using to grip the wall was starting to slip too. I don't know what would have happened if I had lost my grip, and I don't want to find out. For most of the climb, I repeated the poem 'Ecstasy of Death' in my mind, focusing only on the next step. At the rest point, as I drank my "Relax" smoothie (oh, the irony!), I said that I would rather run two 50 km ultra marathons than climb another via ferrata (at least at D difficulty).
... and I couldn't sleep the night after because I had nightmares about losing my grip, but that grotesque feeling is disappearing as I return to normal life. People are praising me for my stupid decisions, and my toxic mentality is telling me to try a via ferrata again. Maybe an easier one to start with.
*I wanted to write 'I've ever had to do', but nobody forced me to climb it.
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