Latest news with #Xenon
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
After record-breaking Everest climbers revealed they use hypoxic tents to get altitude ready without acclimatizing on the mountain, we look at how the technology works
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Around 800 people attempt to climb Mount Everest each year, braving extreme conditions for the chance to say they've stood on top of the world. Along with rigorous physical and mental training, hopefuls need to prepare for the harrowing effects of altitude atop Earth's tallest mountain, where the amount of oxygen taken in with each breath is drastically lower than at sea level. Traditionally, climbers have acclimatized by spending significant time in the mountains, heading up and down to prepare their bodies for the dizzying heights, and reducing the impact of altitude sickness. This tried and tested method has proven effective for the past 70 years of Everest expeditions, but comes with one major drawback: time. Without four to six weeks to dedicate to acclimatization, many Everest hopefuls are now turning to modern technology to help them prepare, sleeping and exercising in specialist acclimatizing 'hypoxic' tents, which do away with the need to spend months in the mountains. 'You sleep like garbage if you're not acclimatized, you lose your appetite, so you wither away Brian Oestrike, CEO of Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems As alien as it may sound, hypoxic tents, otherwise known as altitude tents, have become increasingly common in recent years, used by alpinists and climbers to prepare for harsh conditions. This year, a group of British veterans in their forties and fifties used hypoxic tents in combination with controversial Xenon gas to speed-climb the mountain, summiting a record four days after arriving in Nepal and effectively going from sea level in London, to the highest peak on the planet in 5 days. The very next day, US-Ukrainian climber Andrew Ushakov claimed to have broken their record, after spending over 400 hours acclimatizing in a hypoxic tent. Ushakov says he went from New York to the Everest summit in just 3 days, 23 hours, and 27 minutes. So what are hypoxic tents, and how can they help climbers achieve these once-unthinkable feats? Read on for everything you need to know. Put simply, hypoxic tents mimic the low oxygen levels of high-altitude environments. The air at sea level contains 20.9% accessible oxygen, a number that drops dramatically the higher you get. At Everest base camp, it falls to around 10.4%. By the summit, it's down to just a third of the accessible oxygen quotient at regular sea-level. In healthy individuals, blood oxygen saturation levels sit around 98% to 100% at sea level. At altitude, that number drops to roughly 87% to 92% This has a weakening effect and can cause altitude sickness. Hypoxic tents simulate this mix with a generator or pump, which removes oxygen and replaces it with nitrogen, reducing the amount of oxygen in the air to high-altitude levels. Sleeping in the simulated altitude conditions of a hypoxic tent triggers your body to saturate your blood oxygen levels, releasing red blood cells and ready your system for conditions at 20,000ft (6,096m). 'As you expose yourself to altitude, your kidneys release EPO [erythropoietin], which starts this physiological change that leads to an increase in red blood cells, but more so into a better ability to transport and utilize oxygen,' Brian Oestrike, CEO of Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems tells us. Climbers like Ushakov use hypoxic tents to ready themselves for the unforgiving mountain conditions atop the globe's tallest peaks. Saturating your blood oxygen levels can be beneficial in several ways, reducing the risk of altitude sickness and preparing your body for the tiring effects of altitude. 'You improve your comfort and safety margin as you're ascending up through the mountains,' Oestrike explains. 'You sleep like garbage if you're not acclimatized, you lose your appetite, so you wither away as those things happen. By acclimatizing beforehand and using this equipment, you can offset your expedition, it improves your safety and your comfort margin.' By mimicking arduous alpine conditions, hypoxic tents can reduce the time it takes to acclimatize. 'Most people, if they're going to the Himalayas, historically have a six to eight-week expedition itinerary,' continues Oestrike. 'It takes that long for your body to slowly adapt and build the red blood cells that carry oxygen and allow you to climb safely." Ultra-running superstar Kilian Jornet slept inside a hypoxic tent for eight weeks before his maiden ascent of Mount Everest, mimicking altitudes of 13,000ft (3,962m) to 16,000ft (4,877m) without leaving sea level. He then became the fastest man to climb Everest alone and without oxygen, summiting the 29,000ft (8,850m) behemoth in just 26 hours. Although they're becoming increasingly popular with climbers and other extreme athletes, hypoxic tents do have their limitations and experts say they cannot be trusted as the sole method for acclimatization. "It's not the full acclimatization. I would say it's the first step," says Grégoire Millet, Professor of Exercise Physiology at the Institute of Sport Sciences in Lausanne, France. He explains that, even after months of sleeping in a hypoxic tent, "you will use some acclimatization, but not the full spectrum. You can be fully acclimatized in the tent, and not acclimatized to the real mountain". In other words, hypoxic tents cannot fully prepare the body for the rigours and difficulties of climbing at very high altitudes. In the Himalayas, elite climbers (and paying clients) on expeditions aiming for the highest peaks enter what is known as the Death Zone, an extremely dangerous zone above 26,247ft (8,000m), where besides having to deal with temperatures potentially tumbling to -31°F (-35°C) and highly technical terrain, the oxygen in the air is so low it's impossible for humans to survive for long. "You have to go to the real mountain for at least a few days before you travel," advises Millet, an expert in acclimatization technology. He advises climbers to use the tents in combination with traditional acclimatization methods, like sleeping atop smaller mountains, before tackling any major peaks. "It's better to use the tents, and then before you go to the Himalayas, it's recommended that you go for at least a few days to the Alps," he says. He says your body acclimatizes differently at real altitude and, despite their many benefits, hypoxic tents cannot fully replicate the tough conditions and and lack of oxygen in the mountains. It's not just mountaineers who put hypoxic tents to good use. All manner of sports people, from swimmers to footballers, use simulated altitude environments to expand their physical capabilities and access the benefits of altitude training. 'If you can transport and utilize oxygen better, that leads to better performance benefits, and literally just more ability to consume oxygen,' says Oestrike. "Most of the elite athletes, they have a hypoxic chamber at home," adds Millet. "It's not a tent, but it's a real chamber. It's the same idea, you decrease the oxygen concentration in the room." By training and sleeping at altitude, athletes can increase what's known as their hemoglobin mass, which boosts the amount of oxygen they can utilize during exercise. As Millet explains, this requires considerably more time than mountain acclimatization: "Every 100 hours sleeping in the tent, you will increase your hemoglobin by one percent." Every member of the US Olympic rowing quad who won gold at the Paris 2024 games reportedly slept in hypoxic tents for six weeks before racing. Although they're designed for elite athletes, hypoxic tents can be useful to outdoor enthusiasts of all abilities, helping to build fitness and intensify workouts. When it comes to climbing, Oestrike suggests that hypoxic tents are even more useful to amateurs than professionals. 'Most people who are committed to an 8,000m (26,247ft) peak know what they're getting into, they know what the training looks like, and they know what it takes to prepare. 'High-level athletes are already training super intensively. So the person that's more modest and maybe needs to lose a little weight, they're going to see a greater upside.' Of course, hypoxic tents are not required for easy-to-medium-difficulty ascents. Nor are they absolutely essential to climb giants like Mount Everest. Traditional, slower, acclimatization has proven itself as an effective, stress-tested method of alpine preparation. Rather, hypoxic tents are an additional and convenient method of acclimatizing, to be used along with high-altitude climbing and intensive training. You can read our exclusive interview with Andrew Ushakov here. For more on climbing preparation, check out our expert guide. The best ice axes: for tackling frozen terrain The best climbing shoes: get a grip both indoors and out
Spectator
3 days ago
- Science
- Spectator
What's wrong with using Xenon to climb Everest?
Reaching the top of the world and returning to London within a week without so much as stopping for a coffee in Kathmandu sounds like the stuff dreams are made of. But on 21 May 2025, four former members of the British special forces turned this dream into reality when they stood on the summit of Mount Everest four days and 11 hours after leaving the UK. Their secret was to inhale Xenon two weeks prior to the climb, a gas well known to anaesthetists, but so far unheard of in mountaineering. 'Although Xenon has worked well in clinical studies, it is very rarely used for patients in the UK. It is expensive and complex to administer with no significant benefits over established agents,' says Dr Mike Grocott, a professor of anaesthesia and critical care medicine at the University of Southampton.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Race from sea level: British Xenon gas climbers summit Everest in just five days, but now US national claims to have done it in less than four
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The race is on to see who can get from sea level to Everest's summit in the quickest time possible. Earlier today (May 21), news broke that four former British special forces soldiers became the first climbers to scale Mount Everest using Xenon gas, which helped them go from sea level summit in an extraordinary five days. It took the four veterans, in their forties and fifties, just five days from leaving London to reach the top of the 29,032ft (8,848m) peak, leaving them two days to get back to base camp to make their seven-day goal for the entire expedition. Usually it takes mountaineers several weeks to acclimatize to the high altitudes. The previous record was 21 days, and most expeditions take 70 days to let climbers get used to the thin atmosphere. But now, Nimral Purja is claiming that a client of his expedition company, Elite Exped, has gone from New York to Everest summit in just 3 days, 23 hours and 27 minutes. What's more, he's claiming that he did it only using supplementary oxygen. According to Purja, on May 15, Andrew Ushakov, left New York at 10.15am to travel to Everest base camp. On May 16, he and a team of five sherpa guides started the climb and reached Camp 3 on May 17. On May 18 they departed Camp 4 and after 22 hours reached the summit on May 19 at 9.22am. Purja said in an Instagram post: "Andrew only started climbing in 2020, he is not a full-time athlete, which makes this feat even more impressive." A full-time engineer and a dad, Ushakov reportedly managed the feat with "dedication, training and lots of preparation and hypoxic training for acclimatisation (*including 400+ hours in a hypoxic tent)". British veterans Alistair Carns, 45, Kevin Godlington, 49, Anthony Stazicker, 41, Garth Miller, 51, inhaled Xenon gas in Germany before their expedition. The gas is said to help accelerate the acclimatization process by increasing your body's erythropoietin production and boost red blood cell count. They also slept in specially adapted hypoxic tents to simulate the rarified air found on Mount Everest in the run-up to the trip. On the mountain they used supplemental oxygen. Anthony Stazicker is the founder of ThruDark a brand that creates high-performance outwear for harsh outdoor conditions. The group's progress was communicated on its Instagram account: "First day (May 17) was 12 hours long yomp. Pretty punishing 6 hours from getting off the plane. Today (May 18) was 5hrs but another 1km in height gained. "The Mission: Everest team is currently at Camp 3 and preparing to move to Camp 4 tomorrow (May 20). They're making great time and morale is high, even dodging an avalanche as they moved through the Khumbu Icefall." The team summited on May 21 at 7.10am in 35mph winds. They were with a team of fiver sherpa and one photographer. Xenon gas has been used by guides before but this is the first time it has been used by regular climbers. Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures, which organized the expedition told Reuters: "'Xenon improves the acclimatization and protects the body from altitude sickness and the effects from the hypoxic environment. "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." Xenon is a gas mainly used in manufacturing of lights, but also as a surgical anesthetic. It is recognized as a doping agent in competitive sport by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and in May 2014 was added to the Prohibited List of substances. Adrian Ballinger, American climber and guide from Alpenglow Expeditions company, told Reuters that the use of Xenon was a 'stunt ... it's never seemed like the type of experience we want to provide.' However, he admitted that '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'. The British group are hoping to raise over £1 million ($1,341,000) for veterans charities. Social media comments on the Elite Exped's posts were not so congratulatory, however: Matteusstarling commented: "Speed means nothing, that's just EGO. No respect for setting a dangerous example for climbers. There is a method to keep people alive and healthy and that's just cutting corners to make headlines. Internet and social media help bring these kind of sadly bad examples to life. But in the mountains, life will be always priority. Congratulations to the courageous climb, but it's not an example, it's merely a exemption of someone risking it's [sic] life and fellow sherpas." Hornsby_type_r replied: "These 'records' are mostly a product of artificially cutting corners most others don't when climbing mountains. Hypoxic tent before, ~5 Sherpas supporting you and probably a very high oxygen flow rate making the actual altitude relatively irrelevant. Still very hard, but with a lot more aid than most people get when climbing the mountain." Lanzetta posted: "Well if we're talking about Sea to Summit I'd say Tim Macartney Snape did it correctly. Walked from the beach to the summit of Everest. If you go by plane it's not sea to summit, it's just a quick ascent of Everest." British MP Alistair Carns told The Sun the xenon team were treating the climb like a Special Ops mission – using every advantage they could get. He said: 'This is like a Special Forces mission. We have the best people, the best training, the best kit and we are at the very cutting edge of science. We'll go in, hit the objective and leave no trace, no waste.' Elsewhere at Everest base camp, a UK nurse, fresh from her summit, has revealed how it was her nursing profession that gave her the skills she needed to reach the world's highest peak. Rowena Rowberry, 34, who is a nurse and lecturer in nursing at the University of Derby, is mid-way through her challenge of scaling each of the seven highest summits in the seven continents. Mount Everest was her fourth summit. She's taking on the challenge to raise money for the Royal College of Nursing Foundation and to shine a light on the hardships of nursing. Rowberry told the BBC: "I feel battered and bruised, mentally and physically exhausted. I really did struggle on the way down and if it wasn't for my amazing sherpas who kept encouraging me... they were the real machine into making this happen. "There's so much I've been through and I don't think I would have been able to do this if I hadn't had some of the qualities nursing has given me. "I wanted to shine a light on the profession and show what we can do." The best winter hiking boots: for unbeatable performance in the cold The best ice axes: for tackling frozen terrain
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ukrainian climber released from detention days after record-breaking Everest ascent
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) -Ukrainian climber Andrew Ushakov, who completed a journey from sea level to the summit of Mount Everest in a record four days, has been released on bail following his arrest for carrying undeclared foreign currency, a Nepali official told Reuters on Tuesday. "He has to face the charges in court," said Chandi Prasad Ghimire, director general of the Department of Revenue Investigation. "If he chooses to raise hands (not fight the case in court) he forfeits the bail money." Ghimire had previously said that the bail was set at $60,000 -- three times the amount allegedly carried by Ushakov, 40, when he was taken into custody on Sunday. "Andrew is now out of custody after a misunderstanding," Ushakov's public relations team told Reuters on Tuesday. "He is grateful for the support he has received and is currently working to clarify all matters with the relevant authorities." Ushakov, a structural engineer who lives in the United States, flew from New York to Nepal on May 15 before scaling Everest without the usual period of several weeks of acclimatisation. He said he did not use Xenon, the gas inhaled by four British former special forces soldiers who scaled Earth's highest mountain last week, in five days, after leaving London. The climbers used Xenon to pre-acclimatise themselves to the low-oxygen envionment they would encounter as they journeyed toward the 8,849-metre summit. Police official Nakul Pokhrel said that the undeclared foreign currency was detected during baggage screening as Ushakov readied to board a plane leaving Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city. Anyone carrying foreign currency worth more than $5,000 is required to declare it to the authorities in Nepal.
Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Straits Times
Ukrainian climber released from detention days after record-breaking Everest ascent
Andrew Ushakov, a Ukrainian man living and working in United States as an engineer speaks during an interview with Reuters, who said that he completed a journey from sea level to the summit of Mount Everest in a record time, at a mountaineering gear store after completing his summit, in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 23, 2025. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo KATHMANDU - Ukrainian climber Andrew Ushakov, who completed a journey from sea level to the summit of Mount Everest in a record four days, has been released on bail following his arrest for carrying undeclared foreign currency, a Nepali official told Reuters on Tuesday. "He has to face the charges in court," said Chandi Prasad Ghimire, director general of the Department of Revenue Investigation. "If he chooses to raise hands (not fight the case in court) he forfeits the bail money." Ghimire had previously said that the bail was set at $60,000 -- three times the amount allegedly carried by Ushakov, 40, when he was taken into custody on Sunday. "Andrew is now out of custody after a misunderstanding," Ushakov's public relations team told Reuters on Tuesday. "He is grateful for the support he has received and is currently working to clarify all matters with the relevant authorities." Ushakov, a structural engineer who lives in the United States, flew from New York to Nepal on May 15 before scaling Everest without the usual period of several weeks of acclimatisation. He said he did not use Xenon, the gas inhaled by four British former special forces soldiers who scaled Earth's highest mountain last week, in five days, after leaving London. The climbers used Xenon to pre-acclimatise themselves to the low-oxygen envionment they would encounter as they journeyed toward the 8,849-metre summit. Police official Nakul Pokhrel said that the undeclared foreign currency was detected during baggage screening as Ushakov readied to board a plane leaving Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city. Anyone carrying foreign currency worth more than $5,000 is required to declare it to the authorities in Nepal. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
