To the Summit of Mt Everest or Bust, Fueled by Xenon Gas

In the present era of international mountaineering in the Himalayas, which began in the early decades of the twentieth century, seasonal weather patterns mean that May has long been climbing season on the great peaks, including Mt Everest. The devastating events in Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air, when eight climbers died on Everest, occurred in May 1996. Here’s a fascinating article on a summit attempt that is taking place right now, in May 2025. Four British soldiers-turned-mountaineers are attempting to summit Everest, and raising money for charity through their effort. That part’s okay, or normal enough, if you discount the reality that far too many people now try to climb Everest every year, with veritable traffic jams happening on the most popular routes and chokepoints, like the South Col, and lots of refuse is left on the mountains that then must get carted down at some point. The article started to become strange for me when I read that the quartet is going to try to do it in only seven days, while most teams take a month or even more. Most expeditions have their team members acclimatize to the oxygen-depleted atmosphere, because altitude sickness above 6000 meters (or around 19,700 feet) is common, and what can be a death zone is above 7900 meters (around 26,200 feet). It is hoped that the more time climbers spend adjusting to this altitude, they will be better able to handle all the rigors, keeping in mind that the summit of Everest itself is higher still, at 8,849 meters (29,356 feet). This often means that for the climactic stretch of the ascent, climbers can be very ill and struggling with multiple debilities, including mental confusion and bad decision-making, which can lead to fatal mis-steps and mistakes.

However, to achieve their lightning-quick ascent the four British climbers are experimenting with unproven medical stratagems to acclimatize their bodies in advance of ever even traveling to the Himalayas last Friday. Back home they’ve been sleeping in oxygen-deprived tents (dubbed “hypoxic tents,” as they tried to create conditions that mimicked those they’ll encounter this week on the mountain. They report nights of terrible sleep the past several months, and express some uncertainty as to whether the tents have helped, though they’ve stuck with using them for months. Even more bizarre, though, are inhalations of xenon gas they’ve been administering to themselves the past few months, in hopes of boosting their red blood cells; they’ll also use xenon gas again once they’re in situ.

Unsurprisingly, the expedition has attracted criticism in the mountaineering and the medical world from people who believe what they’re doing is not only unproven, it’s and potentially dangerous. The team members claim they’ll have a lighter environmental footprint, and it’s no more dangerous than any other summit attempt. In addition, though mountaineering—unlike competitive sports such as cycling and tennis, which have governing bodies that monitor athletes’ blood and urine, and try to hold them to account if they use banned substances—has no official body to sanction the British climbers, or even to rule on whether what they’re doing is ethical or justified. To them, apparently, it’s an acceptable risk, and they won’t be stopped from making this attempt though it may prove foolhardy.

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