Before me stood this mighty Mountain

Standing 2025 ft tall, its shadow loomed over me like an eerie tidal wave ready to crash down and wash me far away. 

My goal was tasked down to me by an unknown voice deep inside that told me to climb to the very top, the same one where billions have tried and failed to reach it themselves, with only the select few privileged having access to helicopters owned by their parents to bypass the climb altogether.

Someone like me only had access to the clothes on my back and a worn-out pickaxe that has been handed down to me by my family for generations, who too have attempted the climb only to fail and give up the dream we all had longed wished to achieve.

Today makes it the 3100th attempt to try and make it to the top... Meaning I’ve fallen and tumbled my way back down here to the bottom a total of 3099 times with nothing to show for it other than falling face first in the mud and restarting the whole process all over again. 

Gathering only an expressionless glance from the other climbers as they return to taking their own attempt at this seemingly impossible challenge without giving me a second thought, some being forced to climb without the help of any sort of gear being passed down to them. 

Mine may be old and withered, but at least I had something to assist me, unlike those poor souls born without being given such equipment to assist them.

Couldn’t linger on everyone’s circumstances though, as my focus had to be directed at putting all my effort into conquering this Mountain, starting by gazing up to the imposing landmass before me, unable to even see the top due to this thick dark cloud that circled what I assumed was hiding the paradise everyone had dreamed about. 

After so many attempts I’ve only ever made it to arm's length of the dark cloud one time before falling back down again... Reminding me of my failure every time I saw the dark cloud that forever looms over this land like a dark, emotionless demon. 

Breaths heavy, stomach sinking, and feeling ill all the while, the beat of my heart pounded out of control at the mere thought of making it so far up only to tumble back down all over again; the fall itself wasn’t what scared me the most...No... It was the idea that I would never be able to make it to the top and be forever trapped down here with everyone else who gave up or no longer had the strength or will to continue the climb.

Forced to scrounge for the tiniest of scraps to avoid starving to death along with finding less than ideal shelter to survive the harsh weather, many are unable to cope with living such a rough life, with some turning to wild berries that aren't good for them but helped numb away the pain just long enough to make it to the next day until they fall asleep for the last time and never wake up again, their bodies returning to the earth at a much sooner time than they should have... Some intentionally making that final devastating choice.

Trapped living with those endless struggles is a horrifying future I wanted to avoid at all costs, yet at the same time, was it any better to spend all my life climbing and falling down this Mountain over and over again with no hope of ever reaching the top?

Even with the best tips and tricks from some of my family who attempted this challenge long before me, along with providing me a pick axe to make the climb a little easier to manage, I still can’t even reach my personal best anymore and keep falling back down to the bottom as nothing more than a miserable failure. 

This routine has gone on so many times that my already withered pick-axe had dulled to the point that you really had to put all your strength behind your swings to slam it into the cliff-side. Neither I nor my family had the means to replace it, meaning this old pick-axe was the tool I was stuck with if I wanted to achieve my goal. 

There was no other way around it... I can bitch and moan all I want, but that wasn’t going to get me any closer to the top of this mighty Mountain, so after closing my eyes and taking a moment to settle my nerves and better control my breathing, my undying resolve returned as I sprang my eyes right back open! 

Glaring at the top of this towering ice fortress as a fiery passion burned inside me, making a silent promise to this rocky structure that today would be the day I make it to the top and finally conquer this challenge once and for all. 

So throwing my hood over my head and taking a tight hold of the handle of my chipped and withering pick-axe, I approach the base of the Mountain once again and, without a second thought, stab my pick-axe deep into the structure. 

Beginning my 3100th attempt at this climb

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The routine was the same as before, starting out easy at the start due to all the crevices that stuck out at the bottom lower part of this Mountain, all very easy to grab onto along with creating the perfect footing to help make it pretty far up without much struggle at all, even for younger teens starting their first climb. 

However, such a laid-back start tricked many beginners into believing scaling this Mountain would be a piece of cake, only to be humbled once they make it a quarter of the way and discover the cruel tricks this climb had in store and send them tumbling back down to the ground. 

Feel so bad for these new climbers to have their hopes of making it to the top without any issues dashed in an instant... Given I’ve gone through that same devastation myself when I first started.

What makes the quarter mark of the climb such a challenge to overcome, especially for newcomers, is that the terrain starts to become a lot steeper, which makes it much harder to climb and keep your grip since you really need to put a lot of focus on both your upper body strength and your leg muscles to not only continue forward but also to hold on for dear life at the same time. 

On top of that, the amount of crevices was reduced by a good amount, which meant much fewer surfaces one was able to grab onto, which meant heavily relying on a tool like a pick-axe to dig into the cliff-side so that you could get a tight hold of the handle to keep yourself from falling while using your free hand to reach for the few crevices about and pray that you grabbed one and don’t lose either grip in the process.

On top of all that, you then had to make sure to find exactly the right spot to dig the pick-axe into; otherwise, it would just rebound off any of the sturdier pieces of rock and leave you flailing off balance while clinging for dear life with your other hand onto one of the rare crevices you managed to find.

Juggling all these new factors added to the climb that you quickly had to adjust to, along with the amount of strength required to be able to tackle the steep cliff after already spending hours climbing, really does a number not only your body, but also your mind since there is always that fear in the back of your head that making just one small mistake will send you tumbling right back to the beginning bottom again. 

Personally, due to the countless times I had made it past this point of the Mountain, my body had gained enough strength and experience to be able to get through consistently. I even managed to find the perfect path with a decent amount of crevices to grab onto, along with the walls being perfect to dig my pick axe into and lift myself up.

Though that didn’t mean it still wasn’t a rough challenge where one wrong move could easily send me rolling back down to start all over again, the bright side was that there were even some decent caves of various sizes scattered around this section that I could climb into and take myself a breather inside.

All these caves were littered all around the Mountain, with even a bunch located more towards the lower half of this mighty structure; however, you couldn’t just go into any cave and head inside due to the fact that instead of trying to make the harsh journey to climb to the top and enter the promised paradise, most people decided to instead settle with claiming a cave for themselves and their family and make that their home.

Most scooped up the easier caves to get to at the bottom even if they were much smaller and didn’t give you much space to live in, while others really put in the extra effort to go for the larger caves that hung around this higher section of the cliffs.

Thanks to some of my family and friends choosing to abandon the climb altogether and settled down in some of the caves around here, I could make it to the cave where my uncle and family had lived and could head inside to take a breather without issue. 

Happily welcomed by him, his wife, and his four kids, always eager to see me and have food and drinks prepared to help rebuild my energy to tackle the remaining climb. 

While these caves weren’t the most extravagant places to hunker down in for the rest of your life, with some being much better than others, it still wasn’t a terrible option for people to settle down in and have a mostly reliable roof over their head if they were unable to achieve the dream of making it to the paradise above.

However, these caves came with a host of downsides that ranged from small but manageable issues, like the caves near the bottom being much too small to host more than one or maybe two people to live in, which was a problem for large families who were unable to make it to the higher caves and had to all squeeze together in such a limited space. 

The cave's temperature also dealt with extremes a majority of the time depending on the season; it either felt extremely cold to live in with ice forming on the floor, which made it a pain to walk around inside your own place without risk of tripping, or it was way too hot and felt like you were going to melt into a puddle on the floor. 

It was very rare to find those days when the weather was just right and made such caves really comfortable to live inside.

However, none of those compared to the serious danger, and that was the risk of a spontaneous avalanche falling from the peak of the Mountain and permanently burying the caves under a thick layer of snow and knocking the residents out of their home and sending them tumbling back to the bottom.

Fortunately, avalanches were very rare and don’t happen very often, with the majority of the time the large wave of snow harmlessly passing by without hitting a cave... Sadly though, it still happens enough to cause people to lose their home forever and have to start all over again from the bottom... Some even lost their lives in the process. 

 

This risk was the main factor in why I didn't just want to settle with living in a cave where there was a real chance I could lose my home to a random avalanche and have to find another cave to live in that was dwindling by the day with more people climbing up to claim them for themselves or being lost to the snow.

No, my goal from the moment I decided to take on this challenge by myself was to make it to the very top of this unforgiving Mountain and achieve this lifelong dream to enter the paradise that was waiting for whoever could conquer this challenge.

Legends that everyone spoke of ever since I was a kid promised that once you make it to the top, then you’ll be provided with the biggest and most comfortable caves that will never fall to the threat of a random act of nature, endless food that will keep you fed all your life so you never have to ever hunt again nor worry about going hungry again, along with entertainment to last you a lifetime so you’ll never get bored. 

A true blue paradise and one I was going to make my reality and find a way to get the rest of my family and friends up there to join alongside me so we can all experience such bliss together.

So after a quick pit stop at my uncle's cave, along with peeking in to the rest of my family and friend’s cave around here for a quick hello, I head back out and continue my long journey ahead, more determined than ever to make it to the very top!

...Though such determination was truly put to the test once I had arrived at the dreaded halfway point of the climb, one that was enough to cause me to pause and gaze up at the upcoming trail ahead that has bested even more experienced climbers than myself.

Would this finally be the day I conquer this challenge and fulfil this lifelong dream of mine... Or would I just fail yet again with my face planted in the unforgiving dirt and snow-covered ground with nothing to show for it? 

Is it just futile to try to even think about continuing forward?

...No!

I’ve made it too far to scrap all this progress and turn back now, so with one hand gripped firmly on the last remaining crevices that would be easy to grab and the other holding on tight to my pickaxe, I stretched my body up as far as it would allow and slammed the rusted metal blade into the stubborn flat rock above, officially starting the most grueling part of the climb. 

Pushing forward with an unbreakable steel of hope and determination flowed through my pounding veins, believing today would finally be the one!

The one where I’ll make it to the very peak!

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