Latest news with #LukasFurtenbach
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."
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.
CBC
4 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Xenon gas could speed Everest treks. There's concern it could also leave climbers dangerously unprepared
When Canadian Chris Dare attempted to climb Mount Everest in 2019, one of the challenges he faced was a serious overcrowding problem. There were so many people making the attempt that the final push to the summit of the world's highest mountain took twice as long as expected due to bottlenecks, which he says made the climb far more dangerous. Eleven people were killed on the mountain during that year's climbing season. But after a team of British climbers who had inhaled xenon gas recently made headlines for reaching the summit in five days, the B.C. resident is worried the issue could be made significantly worse. Making the mountain easier to summit, Dare told CBC News, will likely attract more climbers, "exacerbating the already serious overcrowding problem." That potential problem is just one of many issues being raised around the use of the gas by mountain climbers. 5 days to climb Everest Xenon is a colourless and odourless gas found in very small amounts in the Earth's atmosphere and is known to have some anaesthetic properties and medical uses, like helping to diagnose lung problems, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Mountain guide Lukas Furtenbach said last week that he and a team of British climbers had inhaled xenon gas before embarking on an expedition where they climbed the 8,848 metre peak of Everest less than five days after departing London. The climbers spent months preparing, Furtenbach told The Associated Press upon his return to Kathmandu. He said they slept in hypoxic tents that simulate high-altitude conditions, underwent a xenon gas treatment at a clinic in Germany just two weeks before heading to Nepal and used supplemental oxygen during their climb. Climbers normally spend weeks at base camp to allow their bodies to adjust to the higher altitude. To prepare their bodies for the lower air pressure and lower level of oxygen available at the top of Everest, they make practice runs to the mountain's lower camps before beginning their final attempt to reach the peak. "Climatization is a process in which the body adapts to a high-altitude environment and makes kind of physiological changes to allow you to function in a hypobaric, hypoxic environment," said Dr. Rob Casserley, a British doctor who works in Quebec and has scaled Mount Everest eight times. Dare says he believes more studies are needed on the use of xenon to aid climbers. "It just seems very, very risky at this onset, right at the beginning," he said. "It's really hard for me to think about ... using a new type of technique. What type of safety protocol is involved with that?" He's also concerned that if climbers come to rely more on xenon gas, they'll forgo the training needed to make such climbs and discover too late that their pre-acclimatization efforts didn't necessarily work. As a result, climbers' bodies may not be ready to deal with the lack of oxygen at high altitudes, which means they could develop altitude sickness and end up with fluid build-up in the lungs (pulmonary edema) and swelling of the brain (cerebral edema), he said. "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." 'Great psychological risk' Casserley says the advantage of a longer expedition is that it allows climbers to acclimatize over time. That means they become stronger and more "street-wise and savvy on the mountain," he said. In 2015, he survived avalanches on Mount Everest that were triggered by an earthquake in Nepal. He says climbing Everest is about 90 per cent psychological and 10 per cent physical. "You start putting in people who've just come cold turkey out of their normal environment, I think it will put them at great psychological risk of having some kind of meltdown and not having the skills necessarily to get themselves down in a kind of so-called disastrous situation," Casserley said, noting that this could endanger a lot of people. He also questions the science around using xenon gas to aid climbers, noting that there's been some evidence that it can increase erythropoietin (EPO), the hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells, which in turn increases the capacity of blood to carry oxygen in the body. And that could possibly lead to enhanced athletic ability that would allow people to scale a mountain at a faster rate. But he says that so far, there's only anecdotal evidence that the gas is performance enhancing. (In 2014, the World Anti-Doping Agency added xenon gas to its list of banned substances after claims surfaced that it can be used by athletes to help boost performance.) Climbers' observations shouldn't be dismissed Dr. Peter Hackett, a high-altitude researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who has also scaled Mount Everest, says Furtenbach's observations shouldn't be dismissed. "I trust observations of experienced and skilled climbers. They know their bodies. They know how they react to high altitude," Hackett said. "If they thought there was a difference with the xenon, then I think it's upon science to try to find out if that's really true." But he says it's also important to stress that Furtenbach's crew slept in hypoxic tents for three months before they went to the mountain and also used oxygen on the mountain, two things that are already known to make a big difference. To say xenon on its own was responsible for their quick ascent is "misinformation," he said. Hackett noted that Ukrainian climber Andrew Ushakov claims to have recently climbed Everest from sea level to the summit in a record four days with supplemental oxygen and pre-acclimatization in a hypoxic tent, but without the use of xenon. "He did even better than these other guys," Hackett said. He says the idea that xenon gas might be useful in high altitudes because it could increase red blood cells and protect vital organs from low levels of oxygen hasn't been shown in studies. "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." Hackett says it's worth researching the effects of xenon, but not because it could be a way for climbers to scale mountains faster.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Inexperienced climbers could be banned from scaling Mount Everest in move to reduce deaths and overcrowding
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Climbing the world's tallest mountain could soon become even harder as officials have announced a major rule change to curb unnecessary deaths and overcrowding. Under new legislation currently making its way through Nepal's parliament, the Himalayan nation would only grant Everest permits to climbers who have already scaled at least one of its 7,000m (22,965ft) peaks. Medical check-ups from a government-approved hospital or medical facility would also be mandatory. The proposed law is the latest in a series of rules introduced to restrict the number of inexperienced climbers attempting to summit the 29,035ft (8,849m) mountain. The move comes on the heels of several other policy changes for Everest hopefuls. In January, Nepal announced a 36% increase in climbing fees for foreign climbers on the mountain. Overseas climbers hoping to scale the popular South Col route during the peak spring season now have to pay a $15,000 (£11,204) royalty fee, rather than the previous total of $11,000 (£8,217). Daredevil solo climbers have also been restricted. As of September, everyone on the mountain must be accompanied by an expert guide, although it's currently unclear whether overseas guides qualify. Overcrowding has become a major issue on Everest, as most climbs are attempted from March to May. Queues to the summit, abundant litter, and abandoned human excrement have all mired the Himalayan peak in recent years. One sherpa told the BBC: "Our mountains have begun to stink. We are getting complaints that human stools are visible on rocks and some climbers are falling sick." The proposed law's announcement has been met with criticism by travel companies, who say it could harm business on the mountain. Lukas Furtenbach leads Everest expeditions for the Austria-based company, Furtenbach Adventures. He's urging Nepali lawmakers to allow permits for climbers who've scaled any 7,000m+ peak, not just those in Nepal. He told Reuters: "That wouldn't make any sense. And I would also add mountains that are close to 7,000 metres to that list and that are widely used as preparation, like Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Denali and others." Although the incoming law is still in its draft stage, Nepal's ruling alliance holds the required majority to pass it and is expected to do so without significant changes. The best crampons: tested for sure-footed traction on frozen terrain The best ice axes: for tackling frozen terrain
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."
