Ohh, I thought it was required, since I couldn't seem to go down, and I was told to "head to the left", which I interpreted as to that!
Either way, knowing it's optional makes it a lot more bearable, it's just sometimes a pain to deal with the fact that every time I respawn my gear is in a slightly different position, making attempts extremely inconsistent!
I'll repeat that it is pretty darn unique, it's just that, as you said, you got a little carried away, which is pretty easy to do when making something like this ^v^