Interview with a not-so-unlikely fellow adventurer
Mary Halston is talking herself into crossing a narrow wooden plank. On the other side, there’s a rock face with pint-sized rungs leading straight up. She hesitates, looks back and shushes me.
I can be a bit of a loud mouth. When I’m nervous, I talk. When I’m scared, I laugh. The last thing I want is to take away from a comrade’s experience, so I happily oblige. Minutes later I’m crossing the same plank. It was so intense I needed to shush myself.
I called Halston at her home in New York a few weeks later to chat about our adventures, the challenges and our many shared triumphs. Not surprisingly, we start with the deathdefying plank.
“It probably wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but I really needed to focus. The magnitude of what we were about to do hit me when we walked that plank. When I saw what was next — that rock going straight up — I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is serious business and there’s no turning back,’ ” Halston says. “That’s when I had to manage my anxiety.”
You weren’t originally signed up for the via ferrata challenge. What changed your mind?
In our 50s, we actually succumbed to peer pressure. After that first day of hiking, Brody (the instructor) says “Hey, Mary and Bruce! Are you in for the via ferrata tomorrow?” Ten other guests were staring at us. I looked at Bruce, and said “I guess we’re doing it.”
And the verdict?
When I was going up, all I could think about was what was in front of me. I never looked too far ahead. I needed to focus on the task at hand. When I got to the top, I looked out and — holy cow — it was the most breathtaking beauty. I just thought, “Thank god we did this.” It was an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I would have regretted it forever had we not done it.
My friends and family think I’ve lost my marbles. What’s the response been for you?
When they see pictures of the huge bridge, they say “Are you crazy?!” But I just thought it was just the most amazing thing. I was looking out with the biggest grin on my face. The whole time I was thinking, “I can’t believe I am doing this! But here I am, I am doing this!” It totally blew my expectations.