The light of the moon was almost blinding, and when traveling in direct moonlight we turned off our headlamps. Occasionally, we passed into areas shaded from direct moonlight and we had to turn on our headlamps for visibility. Walking with crampons was awkward, especially on a few rocky sections where there was no snow. We plodded forward and I was feeling strong.

While the moon was very bright, I was surprised to find that I was having difficulty seeing clearly. Closing my left eye, I realized my right contact lens had been blown out by the dry wind. Without the contact lens I was blind. No problem, at our first break I would put in my spare lens. When we stopped for our first break, I dug out my contact lens, huddled in an attempt to block the wind, and tried to put in my spare contact lens. Within seconds, a gust of wind had blown away my spare lens. I had been on dozens of climbs in Colorado, and had never needed a spare lens. Now I had lost both my original and spare lens. I told my guide about my problem, and he said they could either guide me back to Camp Muir or I could continue to climb using the vision from one eye. We were roped together, so it was impossible to get off trail, so I decided to continue climbing.