They Want to Climb Everest in a Week—With a Xenon Boost

Four former military friends from the UK are taking an unconventional shot at summiting Mount Everest in under a week, a feat that typically takes climbers a minimum of six weeks. Their edge? Inhaling the noble gas xenon ahead of the expedition, a method they say could help them rapidly acclimatize to high altitude. The team plans to fly to Nepal this month, access Base Camp by helicopter, and rapidly push for the summit under the direction of Furtenbach Adventures—at a cost of about $170,000 a person, reports the BBC.

The attempt hinges on xenon's ability to trigger the kidney's production of erythropoietin (EPO), which the BBC reports is produced when our oxygen levels become insufficient. EPO ups the count of red blood cells and hemoglobin, which carries oxygen throughout the body. The hope is that this chemical acceleration will serve as a substitute for the gradual acclimatization and buildup of red blood cells that typically occurs over weeks spent at Base Camp and higher camps. Lukas Furtenbach, CEO of Furtenbach Adventures, tells CNN he has tested the use of xenon on himself five times, including prior to reaching the peak of the 22,838-foot Aconcagua in Argentina.

Not surprisingly, the mountaineering and medical communities have concerns. They point out that xenon is a banned substance for athletes, and as an anesthetic, it could impair climbers, a risky proposition at high elevations. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation warns that there's no scientific evidence the xenon approach actually changes one's red blood cells, nor that any such change is sustained. Yet Furtenbach said he had an oxygen saturation level of 89% while on Aconcagua's summit; that would be astounding if true, the BBC reports.

story continues below

Al Carns, one of the four climbers, is unperturbed by the debate. "When oxygen first came on the scene in alpine mountaineering, it was seen as a taboo, and that it shouldn't be done. Now, it's used by everybody. Helicopters to Base Camp were seen as a taboo, but now quite a lot of people do that as well." Ditto the use of low-oxygen hypoxic tents, which help imitate thin air at high altitude ahead of an expedition; the men tell CNN that as part of their extensive prep, they've spent 500 hours sleeping in such a tent. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)