British minister investigated over gas used for Everest ascent

Telegraph

22-05-2025

A British minister is being investigated for using a controversial gas to climb Mount Everest in record-breaking time.
Al Carns, the veterans minister, was part of a group of ex-British Special Forces soldiers who flew the Union flag on the summit on Wednesday, after an arduous five-day climb.
An ascent usually takes around two months with traditional acclimatisation methods.
The 45-year-old Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, a Royal Marines Reserves colonel and former regular who was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in Afghanistan, undertook the expedition with three other veterans with the aim of raising £1 million for forces charities.
Their achievement stunned the mountaineering world, but has been strongly criticised by the Nepalese government, which said it was not aware the team had used xenon gas to pre-acclimatise to the thin atmosphere on the mountain.
'We are investigating the travel agency and the climbers who used xenon gas for scaling Everest,' Narayan Prasad Regmi, Nepal's tourism chief, told The Telegraph.
'We will summon them, including the British minister, and take action as deemed fit under the law,' Mr Regmi added.
He said xenon gas has never been used by climbers in Nepal before, and that there was a need for a clear legislation on whether it should be banned.
'All climbers and expedition organisers are required to declare the substances and equipment they use,' Mr Regmi said.
In January, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation said there was 'no evidence that breathing in xenon improves performance in the mountains, and inappropriate use can be dangerous'.
'The well-known and established methods of pre-[acclimatisation] and acclimatisation are safe and recommended,' it said.
The expedition team maintains that it did not bring the gas into Nepal.
The British team inhaled xenon at a clinic in Germany two weeks before the expedition to prevent altitude sickness. Some researchers claim it increases the production of a protein that fights hypoxia – a condition that occurs when the body cannot get enough oxygen.
Critics say xenon's alleged performance benefits are unproven, and that it could harm the tourist industry if its use becomes widespread because climbers would spend less time on the mountain.
Furtenbach Adventures, the Austria-based company that organised the climb, defended the group's use of the gas.
'Xenon improves acclimatisation, protects against altitude sickness and mitigates the effects of hypoxic environments,' said Lukas Furtenbach, the company's founder.
'It makes the climb safer and shorter while ensuring climbers are properly acclimatised, unlike those who rely solely on oxygen from Base Camp without prior acclimatisation, which is extremely dangerous.
'There was no breach of any Nepali regulation. What happens outside Nepal should not be under the purview of the Nepal government.'
He went on to point out that shorter, xenon-aided expeditions had environmental benefits because they used fewer resources.
To get used to thinner oxygen levels at high altitudes, climbers usually spend weeks going up and down between Base Camp and higher camps before making a push for the summit.
Rajendra Bajgain, a Nepalese MP, told The Telegraph that 'the rise of short-duration climbs aided by xenon gas will hurt our mountain economy'.
'These quick summits reduce the need for local Sherpas, guides and kitchen staff, cutting off vital income for rural communities who have long depended on traditional expeditions,' he said. 'It will collapse the whole support ecosystem.'
Urging the Nepalese government to ban the use of xenon, Mr Bajgain said there were 'no checklists, no oversight, and no concern for how this trend of rapid climbs, including use of helicopters, is displacing local labour'.
Speaking from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu after completing the climb, Mr Carns told BirminghamLive he was 'incredibly proud' and 'feeling amazing' after breaking the record for the fastest of Everest without prior acclimatisation in the Himalayas.
'It was really tough – we walked pretty much non-stop for 55 hours, all uphill, to get to the top, but we did it,' he said.
The minister described how upper reaches of the mountain were littered with bodies of those who have died attempting to conquer the peak, saying: 'It really brought it home, this was the death zone, where there is no room for error or accident.'
Over 340 people have died trying to reach or return from the summit of Everest since it was first climbed by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Around 200 corpses are estimated to remain on the mountain's slopes because of the difficulties and costs of recovery missions.
Mr Carns joined the Royal Marines aged 19 in 1999 and went on to serve as regular for 24 years. He completed five operational tours of Afghanistan and was due to be promoted to brigadier before leaving the forces for a career in politics.
He was elected as Labour MP at last year's general election. Last July, he was appointed as parliamentary under-secretary of state for veterans and people, and in November he re-enlisted in the Royal Marines as a reservist.
This week's expedition, which followed the southern route via South Col and the southeastern ridge, was the fastest ascent of Everest completed without prior Himalayan acclimatisation.
The fastest climb with acclimatisation was achieved by Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who reached the summit in 10 hours and 56 minutes in 2003.
Mr Carns has been contacted for comment.