My first flight in the Baron was to Aspen-Pitkin County airport, with some clouds that I thought would probably necessitate flying the instrument approach to the airport.
Climbing to an altitude that would clear the 14,000+ foot Rocky Mountain peaks, and keep me below the high cloud layer above. I figured 14,500 would be a reasonable compromise, as long as I didn't stay there more than a few minutes, while clearing the Continental Divide, which includes a few peaks above 14,000 feet.
I wasn't familiar with the old-style autopilot yet, so I ended up climbing over 15,000 for a few minutes. About 20 miles from Red Table VOR, the screen started to go dark. I thought it was the sunset making things darker, but then I realized the instrument lights were going dim as well, which didn't make sense. It took way too long, for me to realize that the simulator was telling me the hard way, that I was above the legal altitude to be without supplemental oxygen. Within a few more seconds, the screen went completely black, showing me that I had lost consciousness. Luckily, since I was just simulating this flight, I was able to descend to below 15,000 feet, and the screen image came back, so I could continue my flight.
Taking one last look in the direction of the Roaring Fork River valley, before focusing on the Aspen runway 15 instrument approach.
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