acclivity

Acclivity: "an upward slope." (The American Heritage Dictionary.)

I remember seeing this word used a few times, but out of context I would not have been able to recognize it.

It's difficult to imagine reaching the tops of some acclivities. When I was going for my Master's, taking multiple classes at the same time as I was working, I felt like I was scaling a mountain. Sometimes I would literally scale an acclivity as I walked up the dozens of steps in St. Nicholas park in Morningside Heights. I would glance at my watch, hoping to get to class on time as I power-jumped up the hill. I remember one day, towards the first third of my program, climbing up those steps, looking down at the steps that I had already taken, looking at where I had to go, and figuring that the steps were like a tangible fractional manifestation of my progress thus far. I had made it one-third of the way up the hill, only two-thirds left to go. It was always a perpetual climb, there was no time to truly pause and reflect. That wasn't safe, to stay in one place too long.

I think the most difficult part about climbing an acclivity is when you're right in the middle - when you're starting to get tired but you can't yet see the top. It's at that point when it can be tempting to just turn right back around. But turning around won't usually do you much good - you'll never get that satisfaction of looking down at the mountain you just climbed.