Climbing Everest. Finishing a marathon. Trekking across Antarctica. You hear all the time how fighting through extreme agony can be one of the most fulfilling experiences of a lifetime, how perseverance can become a spiritual beacon of enlightenment.

Frankly, I always considered that kind of thinking a little off-kilter. The people trying these kinds of mystical, I-dare-you-to-kill-me stunts seemed a step away from believing aliens are living among us, ready to take over at any time.

So when a company in Aspen approached me about tackling a 14,000-foot peak -- a 14er in mountaineering-speak -- I almost did a spit-take. Yeah, like someone with paper-thin knee cartilage, a back that seizes up and panic-attack-inducing breathing wants anything to do with strapping on a 40-pound pack and heading up a steep mountain in high altitude.

Of course I did it.

The guys at Aspen Expeditions -- a company that provides guided trips up Colorado's tallest peaks -- assured me it'd be easy, that our destination, 14,265-foot Castle Peak just north of Aspen, was one of the easiest of Colorado's 59 14ers. But as I sat at dinner the night before our expedition, listening to tales of near-death experiences shrugged off with a laugh, I knew their interpretation of easy wasn't quite the same as my walk-the-kids-to-school view.

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At least I did everything I could to prepare for the trip.

Instead of my usual cardio-as-an-afterthought workouts, I switched to a light-lifting, heavy-running mode to see if I could build up some kind of stamina. With just two weeks to get ready, I wasn't sure it'd be enough.

Once I got to Aspen, 20 minutes in an oxygen room added to my feeling of invincibility.

Then came reality.

I figured I had caught a break when Aspen Expeditions founder Dick Jackson and guide Jeff Fassett said we'd be driving up to 12,800 feet, leaving us about 1,500 feet to the top. Problem was, instead of climbing one 14er, we were going to tackle two, adding Conundrum, a 14,010-foot peak connected to Castle by a long ridge.

And instead of simply hiking up, which I figured would be hard enough in the altitude, Jackson and Fassett wanted us to get the full experience. That meant strapping on helmets, crampons and ropes to head up a pair of snow fields, including one up a narrow chute that angled up at a 45 degrees.

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It ended up being the most difficult thing I've ever done.

But despite nearly going into a panic attack 30 seconds into the climb and stopping to catch my breath about 100 times, I made it. And guess what? That transcendental feeling of accomplishment that I had made fun of for all those years washed over me in a waterfall of pride.

It didn't happen right away, though.

After first reaching the summit of Castle Peak, I could have cared less that I had bagged my first 14er; all I wanted to do was sit down and rest. But after a few minutes of basking in the view atop the 14th-highest peak in the lower 48, I was hit with a calm that I had never felt before.

So it wasn't even half as high as Everest. I still felt a sort of -- hard to believe I'm about to say this -- metaphysical feeling that I reached a higher mental and physical plane.

Who knew?

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John Marshall is asap's sports writer, based in Denver.

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