Yeah, after about the 7th time I died in mistlands (all while standing in 2 feet of water I couldn't get out of), I just broke down and installed mods.

Valheim plus, solved a lot of issues in one single mod.

Turned off skill loss on death (some skills had lost almost 25 levels already).
Set it so all items float in water (got sick of looking at loot in 4 feet of water I couldn't reach).
Changed stamina consumption for swimming (now I can swim more then 10 feet).

I am slowly tweaking other settings until it's actually fun again. I don't mind challenging, but the stamina drain combined with the terrain was ridiculous.

In other games, we'd get items & gear to make it easier. Boots with cleats for traction, climbing gloves, etc. You'd be faced with the choice of using the gear, or your much much higher protection armor. But at least you'd have choices. They didn't add anything like that.

There is some kind of feathered cloak that allows you to glide(??) but that requires a whole bunch of loot to get to that stage. By the time you get that unlocked, you almost won't need it.