An Hour of Irresponsibility

I’m hesitant to write this blog entry because it epitomises the definition of stupidity and I am truly embarrassed to include this incident however will do so in the hope that others may learn from my utterly stupid mistake (cue Mom shaking her head already)….

I woke up two nights ago in a cold sweat in the darkness of my little golden oasis at ABC. 

Whilst the temperature inside the tent was about -15 degrees, the temperature on my face felt like it was about 50 degrees. My face felt like it was on fire.  A quick check of the damage courtesy of my head torch and cosmetic mirror showed that I looked like I was the victim of a botox-happy cosmetic surgeon. 

I closed my eyes in pain trying to recall the previous days events….wake up, eat breakfast, go for spontaneous social walk through ABC, put on sunscreen, eat lunch… Ah… the spontaneous social walk…. The lack of sunscreen. The proverbial penny began to drop as I felt my heart beating in my swollen, puffy red face. It probably wasn’t the wisest move to wind myself up over it because the damage had been done but I couldn’t believe what an absolutely stupid ‘rookie’ mistake I’d made. 

Fundamental error given we were up at 6300m with massive solar radiation coupled with the bounce of the snow. Any damage to the skin (cuts, burns etc.) due to the lack of oxygen (even at Base Camp) takes weeks to heal.

To make a long story short and so that I don’t bore you with the ramifications of my error, I’ll be brief and summarise. The 1 hour of stupidity ended up pushing out my acclimatisation ascent of the North Col by 3 days because my face couldn’t stand the light of day without blistering. Fortunately my team mates have a sense of humor (and my guides saw it as an opportunity for a lesson in micro-management!). 

Whilst we did laugh about the situation I don’t think I’ve ever not been able to see the ‘funny side’ to the situation in a long, long time.

Sun:1
Heather:0

Gauze strips and vaseline were my best friends for a week...