An avalanche woke me up at 2am. Not the first I’ve heard, surely not the last and not quite loud enough to be fully alarming. Business as usual for Everest, yet it felt like a sure sign to wake up and shoot.

I could hear my DSLR clicking away behind my tent and I was dying to see if the timelapse shot I set up was working out. I willed myself out of my warm sleeping bag, stepped outside the tent in the sub-zero temperatures and all of a sudden felt like I was 8-years old. I looked up and was awe-struck by the beauty that was unfolding before my eyes.

I climbed down the glacier in my socks, running shoes and down jacket to gather a few batteries from my editing tent. I snapped several shots next to the Puja before landing with this one. From there, climbed back up the glacier and crossed paths with some of my Sherpa team members who clearly think I’m crazy for walking around at 2am with a huge grin on my face and two arm-loads of camera equipment.

From there, a reset of the main camera, a multi-pano Milky Way shot and before I knew it, 4am had snuck up on me and it was definitely time for bed.

I woke up with what felt like a hang-over, but it was certainly worth it. I’m pretty sure I’ll never sleep through the night again on this expedition. The spark just lit the fire within.

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