It would normally be considered the height of impertinence to photograph your tent mate when they’re sleeping, but I couldn’t resist posting this one of me flat out in my sleeping bag at Camp 3 taken by Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson after our return from the summit of Everest.
And in case you’re wondering: I’m not seriously ill with cerebral edema or anything like that. It’s standard practice on the high camps of Everest to sleep with bottled oxygen. It’s supposed to make you sleep better, but my efforts at it weren’t always successful. I had a restless night at Camp 2 (7815m) and when I looked at the pressure gauge on my regulator the following morning it was still reading the same as the night before. I’d somehow slept all night with the mask strapped to my face but hadn’t taken so much as a whiff of gas from my oxygen cylinder!
Despite an exhausting 18 hour summit day I wasn’t sleeping well at Camp 3 (at 8210m the highest campsite in the world) until I discovered I was clean out of oxygen – I was still using the bottle that I’d climbed with. I woke up my other tent mate Chongba Sherpa, who rummaged around in the tent for another bottle with some left. This picture taken by Grant as dawn was rising is evidence that I must have slept pretty well after that.
As well as this funny snap Grant also took some amazing summit pics.
