Latest news with #Furtenbach
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Innovation or dangerous: Xenon gas use to scale Mount Everest faster stirs debate
A new high-altitude climbing strategy is making headlines and stirring serious controversy in the mountaineering world. Last week, four British climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest less than five days after leaving London. The group's organizer, mountain guide Lukas Furtenbach, told The Associated Press that they had inhaled xenon gas during a pre-expedition treatment in Germany. The gas, along with training in hypoxic tents and use of supplemental oxygen, allowed them to bypass the usual multi-week acclimatization process required for most climbers attempting the 29,000-foot peak. "This showed that it can work," Furtenbach told The NY Times, adding that his company plans to offer two-week Everest expeditions beginning next year. "This can be the future of commercially guided mountaineering." But others say it could put lives at risk and damage the mountain's future. Chris Dare, a Canadian climber who summited Everest in 2019, told CBC News that this kind of shortcut could worsen already dangerous overcrowding conditions. "Making the mountain easier to summit will likely attract more climbers," he said, "exacerbating the already serious overcrowding problem." That year, 11 people died during the spring climbing season. Dare also raised concerns about safety and scientific uncertainty around xenon, saying "it just seems very, very risky at this onset, right at the beginning." He warned that climbers using gas-assisted techniques might overestimate their preparedness and suffer from altitude sickness or worse. "You're not training the traditional way of being on the mountain for a month and a half, two months to acclimatize in the natural environment," he explained. Xenon is a rare, odorless gas with medical applications, including use as an anesthetic and to diagnose lung conditions. Some researchers believe it can boost red blood cell production and oxygen-carrying capacity, mimicking high-altitude acclimatization. But experts remain skeptical of its use for mountaineering. "There's no science to say that this works at high altitudes for climbers, and there's no science to say that it doesn't," Dr. Peter Hackett, a high-altitude researcher at the University of Colorado, told CBC News. "It's worth studying, but not because it could help people bag a summit faster." Hackett emphasized that Furtenbach's team also used hypoxic tents and supplemental oxygen, both well-known acclimatization aids, making it misleading to credit xenon alone for the team's rapid ascent. Dr. Rob Casserley, a British climber and physician who has summited Everest eight times, said he worries about the psychological risks of skipping the usual adaptation period. "You start putting in people who've just come cold turkey out of their normal environment," he told CBC News. "It will put them at great psychological risk of having some kind of meltdown." The Nepalese government is now investigating the climb, Himal Gautam, director of Nepal's tourism department, told The New York Times. "Using xenon is against climbing ethics."
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Korea Herald
Everest in five days: British team's speed climb triggers Nepal proble
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Kathmandu Post/ANN) — Four former British special forces soldiers have set a startling new precedent on Mount Everest, reaching the summit in under five days without the traditional acclimatisation process. Their rapid ascent of the planet's tallest peak has drawn sharp scrutiny from Nepali authorities, not for the climb itself, but for the controversial use of xenon gas prior to arrival in Nepal. The team, comprising Maj. Garth Miller, Col. Alistair Scott Carns, Anthony James Stazicker and Kevin Francis Godlington, summited the world's highest peak at approximately 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday. Their journey began in London on the afternoon of May 16, with the climbers arriving at Everest Base Camp the following day. By 10:30 p.m. on May 20, they had begun their final summit push. Back home, the team had trained in hypoxic tents and followed a rigorous high-altitude conditioning regime. But what has provoked the current controversy is their reported inhalation of xenon gas, administered two weeks before departure in Europe, intended to reduce the risk of altitude sickness. Himal Gautam, director of the Department of Tourism, who oversees mountaineering expeditions, said the department was not informed of the gas use. "We have launched an investigation into the matter," he said, noting that all climbers and operators must declare the equipment, medications, and substances used during expeditions. Traditionally, climbers take more than a month to summit Everest. They begin their trek in early April and complete multiple rotations between Everest Base Camp and higher camps to acclimatize. These rotations are vital for adapting to the thinning air at high altitudes and skipping them is considered risky. By contrast, the British team completed the entire climb in just five days — a feat that would have been unimaginable in previous decades. While their speed has captivated parts of the global mountaineering community, it has triggered a heated debate in Nepal about safety, ethics and the future of high-altitude climbing. The expedition was organized by the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures, whose founder, Lukas Furtenbach, insists the team followed all rules. He confirmed that the xenon treatment was administered in Germany and emphasized that only standard supplemental oxygen was used on the mountain. "What happens outside Nepal should not be under the purview of the Nepal government," he said. He defended xenon's use as a modern, medically supervised intervention to prevent altitude sickness and suggested it could make Himalayan expeditions safer. "Our company has a long-standing reputation for safety," Furtenbach said, expressing confidence that the investigation would find no wrongdoing. He also pointed to potential environmental benefits. "Shorter expeditions mean less garbage, lower carbon emissions, and reduced human waste in the fragile alpine ecosystem," he argued. Despite the abbreviated climb, Furtenbach claimed his team employed about 120 local workers and paid them competitively, demonstrating, in his view, that sustainability and economic benefit could go hand in hand. Yet not all stakeholders are convinced. Dambar Parajuli, president of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, warned that widespread adoption of such short-duration climbs could upend the economic model on which the Everest industry depends. "Traditional expeditions employ sherpas, porters, guides, and kitchen staff for weeks, sometimes months," he said. "If climbers finish their journey in days, the ripple effect on local employment will be devastating." He urged the government to consider the broader implications of this shift and to ensure that new policies uphold the livelihoods of communities that depend on the Everest economy. Xenon's use further complicates matters. In 2014, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned the gas for athletes, citing its potential to enhance performance by stimulating the production of erythropoietin (EPO). This hormone boosts red blood cell production. However, mountaineering does not fall under WADA's purview, and there is no ban on its use for non-competitive climbers. In January, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) released a statement on xenon, concluding that it offers no proven performance benefit for altitude climbing. "Although a single dose may cause a short-term spike in EPO levels, there is no evidence that this translates into increased red blood cell count or improved performance," the UIAA said. It emphasized that acclimatisation is a complex physiological process that a single intervention cannot hack. Moreover, the UIAA warned that xenon is a potent anaesthetic, not widely approved for medical use, and carries health risks. "In an unmonitored environment like Everest, side effects such as impaired brain function or respiratory distress could be fatal," the statement said. One study cited by the UIAA reported significant sedation even at doses recommended for mountaineering, posing a potentially serious risk in high-altitude zones where alertness can mean the difference between life and death. Still, Furtenbach dismissed these concerns. He said his company followed ethical and medical guidelines and remained open to cooperation with Nepali authorities. "We are transparent and willing to share our expertise with the government. But there needs to be a better understanding of modern medical science," he said. The Everest "death zone," above 8,000 meters, is one of the most hostile environments on Earth. Oxygen is scarce; even seasoned climbers risk pulmonary or cerebral edema, frostbite, and exhaustion. That such terrain could be tackled in mere days through science and training challenges deeply held beliefs about human endurance and the ethics of high-altitude mountaineering. As Nepal's investigation proceeds, officials face a new dilemma: how to regulate innovation without sacrificing safety, fairness, or the economic sustainability of Everest expeditions.
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Britons Become 1st to Scale Mt. Everest with Help of Xenon Gas, Organizer Says
KATHMANDU (Reuters) — Four British climbers became the first to scale Mt. Everest on May 21 using xenon gas, which helped them save several weeks that mountaineers need to get used to high altitudes, an official of their expedition organizing company said. Normally climbers spend several weeks or even months on the mountain to allow their bodies to adjust to higher altitudes before trying to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain. It is extremely dangerous to go up if the climber is not properly acclimatized. The British climbers, who had inhaled xenon gas in Germany before embarking on the expedition, climbed the 8,848 meter peak in less than five days after departing London, said Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures that organized the expedition. They slept in special tents that simulate high-altitude conditions at home before heading to the mountain and used supplemental oxygen like other climbers during their ascent. Xenon is a colorless and odorless gas found in very small amounts in the earth's atmosphere and is known to have some anesthetic properties and medical uses. 'Xenon improves the acclimatization and protects the body from altitude sickness and the effects from the hypoxic environment,' Furtenbach told Reuters in a text message from the base camp, referring to the low oxygen environment in the mountains. Furtenbach, who has logged four Everest ascents, said xenon gas was used by guides before, but 'it is the first time for clients,' or ordinary climbers. Xenon made the climb safer and shorter as it kept the climbers properly acclimatized, he said. 'Shorter expedition also means less garbage, less resources, less human waste in this sensitive environment,' Furtenbach said. Piles of garbage dumped by climbers have been an issue on Everest in recent years. American climber and guide Adrian Ballinger of the Alpenglow Expeditions company called the use of xenon a 'stunt … it's never seemed like the type of experience we want to provide.' 'Everyone should climb the mountain in a form they are proud of. If these climbers are proud of this style, then that's their choice,' Ballinger said. Nepal has issued permits to 468 people to Everest during the current March-May climbing season, and more than 200 have already topped the summit so far.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
They inhaled a gas and scaled Everest in days. Is it the future of mountaineering?
Photo/Agencies Climbing Mount Everest typically takes weeks, with most of that time spent at the foot of the mountain adjusting to the thin air. But four British men last week shrank that timeline dramatically, traveling from London to the summit and back in less than a week, according to the organizer of their expedition. They skipped the adjustment period, in part, by inhaling a secret weapon: xenon gas. Their feat has roiled the world of mountaineering and prompted an investigation by the Nepalese government, as use of the gas is fiercely debated. Some research has shown that xenon can quickly acclimatize people to high altitudes, even as some experts say the benefits, if any, are negligible and the side effects of its use remain unclear. Organizers said the gas was key to the speed of the climb, but their approach has prompted a broader debate that strikes at the core of mountaineering: Should scaling Mount Everest , one of sporting's greatest accomplishments, be made easier -- available to more people during a quick vacation -- with the help of a performance enhancer? "It is a provocation, especially for traditional mountaineers, who feel bad about this idea that you can climb Everest in less than a week," Lukas Furtenbach, who organized the exhibition, said in a phone interview from the base of the mountain. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 입꼬리 올리는 여름, 인천에서 33만원 임플란트 만나보세요 플란치과 더 알아보기 Undo "This showed that it can work." Furtenbach said that beginning in 2026 he planned to offer two-week round-trip excursions to Mount Everest using xenon gas, cutting the typical time needed to scale the mountain by several weeks. "This can be the future of commercially guided mountaineering on Mount Everest," he said. With xenon, 'you feel better.' For those who live at lower elevations and have traveled to the mountains, the discomfort of altitude sickness is all too clear. Symptoms include nausea, headaches and disrupted sleep, and in some cases it can lead to brain swelling or even death. As you go higher, less oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream with each breath. That is why so many people who climb Everest use supplemental oxygen. Xenon, an odorless gas, has been known for years to activate a molecule called the hypoxia-inducible factor, which is also turned on when people acclimate to low oxygen, said Hugh Montgomery, a professor of intensive care medicine at University College London and a mountaineer who led an expedition to Mount Everest to study how humans respond to low oxygen. "So what these people claim to have done," he said, "is basically found a way to switch on the adaptation to low oxygen levels." The group took what was known from medical science, he said, "and have now applied it, recreationally, to sport mountaineering." Montgomery said scientists were still unsure how xenon triggers this response. While some doctors have used the gas in the past to "precondition" patients to low oxygen levels -- for example, before major heart surgery -- the practice hasn't really caught on because "it hasn't been as protective as one would hope," he said. Mike Shattock, a professor of cellular cardiology at King's College London, said "xenon probably does very little, and there is virtually no reputable scientific evidence that it makes any difference." Experts cautioned that self-medicating with xenon, which has the effects of anesthesia, could lead to overdose or death, and more study was needed to understand how the gas works and its use in mountaineering. On Mount Everest, the weeks of training and acclimation on the lower levels of the mountain are typically required to survive the "death zone," the area above 26,000 feet where the air is particularly thin. The British group, which included four former special forces members, took a different approach. About 10 weeks before the expedition, the men began sleeping in hypoxic tents, which lower oxygen levels in the air and gradually acclimatized the hikers to conditions on Mount Everest, Furtenbach said. While hypoxic tents have been used by some climbers for years, the big innovation for the British expedition came two weeks before the excursion, when the men flew to Limburg, Germany, outside Frankfurt, where a doctor, Michael Fries, had been experimenting with inhaled gases in his clinic. The men wore masks hooked up to ventilators as an anesthesiologist slowly introduced higher levels of xenon into their systems. Furtenbach, who has tried xenon gas on his own mountaineering trips since 2020, said that after the treatment, users experienced enhanced breathing and the sensation of more lung volume, and "when you do your workout or training, you feel better." After arriving at the base of Everest, the British group climbed to the summit in less than three days, which Furtenbach said was one of the fastest times for a group that hadn't acclimatized on the mountain. (According to the Nepalese government, the record for the fastest climb overall is held by Lakpa Gelu, a Sherpa, who reached the top of the mountain in just under 11 hours.) The rapid climb by the British expedition and the use of the gas caught the eye of the Nepalese government, and the fallout has been swift. The use of the gas is 'against climbing ethics.' Himal Gautam, director of Nepal's tourism department, which is responsible for regulating expeditions on the nation's mountains, said in an interview that using the gas was "against climbing ethics," and that it would hurt the country's tourism industry and the Sherpas who help climbers by reducing their time on the mountain. Gautam said his department was looking into the use of the gas by the British climbers, one of whom, Alistair Carns, is also a member of Parliament. In an interview, Carns said that his expedition had been in touch with the ministry and clarified with the department that it had not taken the gas on the mountain. He added that many people who want to climb Mount Everest don't have the time to spend multiple weeks acclimating. "The reality is if I had six to eight weeks to climb Everest, I would, but I'm a government minister, and I don't have time," he said. "What we've done is we've proven that you can reduce the timeline safely." Others in the mountaineering community have warned against the use of the gas. In January, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, a global network that promotes and protects the sport, released a statement that said there was no evidence that xenon gas improved performance, adding that "inappropriate use can be dangerous." The federation noted that xenon has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances since 2014 and is not approved in all countries. "From a medical point of view, off-label use without a scientific basis and with unknown health risks must be rejected," the statement said. Furtenbach argued that his expeditions were still using Sherpas -- five accompanied the British climbers to the summit -- and that shorter times on the mountain were safer, as they reduce the chance that climbers will be exposed to other health threats, including avalanches, hypothermia or falls. He said the prohibition of the gas by the World Anti-Doping Agency didn't apply to mountaineering because it is not a regulated competitive sport. Use of the gas gets at a core question about why people climb mountains in the first place, Montgomery said. "Is it really a good idea that we can all have what we want, when we want, as quick as we want?" he asked. "Are we missing out on the sacrifice you sometimes have to make to get the achievement?" "I'm not a critic," he added. "But maybe just bagging every hill at speed means you miss out on the joy you could have had."
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Renowned Everest guide says using xenon speeds climb and makes it safer, better for environment
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Using xenon gas treatment and the latest technology is making climbing Mount Everest not just faster but also better for the environment, cutting down garbage and waste, a renowned mountain guide said Monday. Lukas Furtenbach took a team of British climbers, who left London on May 16, to scale the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on May 21. They returned home two days later, in one of the fastest ascents on record of the world's highest peak, including the climbers' travel from their homes and back. The use of xenon gas treatment has, however, drawn controversy and has even raised the concerns of Nepalese mountaineering authorities who have announced an investigation. 'The only reason why we are working with xenon is to make climbing safer, to protect climbers from high altitude sickness,' Furtenbach told The Associated Press upon his return to Kathmandu. 'We can see people dying on Everest every year and this is may be one step to improve the situation to make climbing high altitude mountains safer.' The climbers had put in months of preparation, training in hypoxia tents, and underwent a xenon gas treatment at a clinic in Germany just two weeks before heading to Nepal. Climbers normally spend weeks at base camp to acclimatize to the higher altitude. They make practice runs to the lower camps on Everest before beginning their final attempt on the peak so that their bodies are prepared for the low pressure and lower level of oxygen available. The new method is likely to reduce the time climbers spend out of their home countries and cut the number of days they need to take off work, also cutting down on expenses. Furtenbach said the ability to climb the peak in a short period of time could also lead to less environmental impact on the mountain. 'Human waste is one of the biggest problems on Everest base camp. If people spend one week there compared to eight weeks, it is a 75 precent reduction of human waste," he said. "It is a huge reduction of garbage on the mountain and also of resources that have to be carried up to the back camp and have to be carried up the mountain.' Nepal doesn't have rules on how many days climbers must spend acclimatizing or making practice climbs. The permits to climb Everest, which cost $11,000 each, are valid for 90 days. Climbing season normally wraps up by the end of May, when the weather deteriorates and monsoon season begins. The ropes and ladders fixed to the mountain are then pulled out. Nepal's mountaineering department issued a press statement saying it was going to investigate the use of xenon gas. Furtenbach said the gas was never used in Nepal and that he could prove that it was safe to use for climbers.
