Is Xenon Gas the Silver Bullet Solution to Climbing Mount Everest?

Robert Alt (below) and PaDawa (above, in yellow) working their way up the Khumbu Icefall.

A not-so-secret-sauce recipe passed down through generations for success climbing Mount Everest includes equal parts hard work, proper training, physical conditioning, acclimatizing well, and mental resilience. It has never been a task for the faint of heart or those seeking silver bullets.

The recent experiment with xenon gas by four British men who completed their mission in under a week promises to transform what has always been a grueling process into a FastPass-style/skip-the-line at Disney World experience available to tourists desiring thrills without suffering the previously essential and admittedly tedious preparation—a veritable shortcut to the top of the world.

If widely adopted, however, it could cause even more crowding, death, and risk to Sherpas—hardly results worth celebrating.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned xenon gas in 2014, and it remains forbidden in organized sports. There is ongoing debate as to whether this substance actually boosts performance. Fueling this contention further is the incessant rumor that these guys increased their oxygen flow rate to eight liters per minute—more than doubling the tried-and-true maximum of three to four liters per minute—and also began using supplemental oxygen in Kathmandu below 5,000 feet in elevation instead of at 21,000 to 24,000 feet, which is traditional. Whether or not xenon gas enhanced their performance, using it indisputably constitutes cheating in all regulated competitions.

Xenon was the hottest trending topic tied to Everest this season. The media became absolutely obsessed. It ranks among the three most frequently-asked questions I have entertained after the usual inquiries about dead bodies on the upper mountain, etc. People have been alternately excited and horrified by the possibility of making Earth’s tallest point so accessible. Count me firmly in the latter category with the other skeptics.

What seems to have captured the public’s imagination is not the speed of the controversial ascent—there are frequent and admirable attempts by world-class athletes to break records nearly every year. Indeed, the fastest known time (FKT) is less than 11 hours—a truly impressive feat of human accomplishment. But climbing that rapidly is, well, unfathomably difficult.

In touting the efficacy of xenon, renowned Austrian alpinist Lukas Furtenbach, whose avant-garde company—Furtenbach Adventures—organized this xenon-aided expedition, told Climbing that he tested the gas on himself and “did his normal ski touring ascent at home in Innsbruck. ‘I was seven minutes faster without putting any effort into it.’”

That is the pipe dream of continuous improvement and technological advancement, isn’t it? Proceeding quickly without putting any effort into it.

The persistent problem on Everest is climbers who are unprepared—specifically, those who want to pose for epic selfies, but have neither mastered the necessary skills nor adequately physically conditioned for the endeavor. No one is surprised that these same folks often fail to gratefully credit the Sherpa too.

I reached Everest’s peak on May 15, 2025 (thanks to my legendary guide Pasang Dawa Sherpa, who, quite astoundingly, achieved his 29th summit this year), and was absolutely shocked by the poor performance of some climbers in the queue in front of us. Very early on, they came to a full halt upon confronting mildly technical pitches that should not have been challenging for even novices. They simply did not possess the requisite fitness, proficiency, and energy to reach the summit—which of course is only the halfway point in any expedition—let alone to fulfill the important responsibility of getting back down safely.

Robert Alt crossing the Khumbu Icefall.

Being in good shape is a life and death matter on Everest, and is an issue not just for those who struggle, but also for the fit and well-prepared climbers who are frustratingly stuck in traffic jams on the narrow path. We risked frostbite—or worse—from extended exposure to subzero temperatures waiting behind those who had precisely no business being up there.

As amazing as the Sherpas are, they cannot climb for you. Ultimately, you have to reserve enough metaphorical gas in your tank to get yourself out of the notorious death zone—the area above 26,000 feet where pressure in the air is too low to sustain life for more than a short period.

In the case of these four British men who worked with Furtenbach, they were former special forces who by all accounts were in excellent shape. At the very least, records set by climbers on xenon require a big fat asterisk.

What seems to be propelling xenon gas into news feeds is the better-in-theory proposition that nearly anyone could climb Everest “without putting any effort into it.”

At the risk of gatekeeping, is that the outcome we seek for our beloved Everest? Allowing scores of individuals to inevitably find trouble at high altitude?

It is gratifying that more people are becoming interested in this spectacular sport I inherited as a hobby from my father and love profoundly, and I would be thrilled to grow our ranks (come join the adventure, we are a welcoming bunch!), but we need folks willing to invest not eschew effort.

In mountaineering as in life writ large, if something sounds too good to be true, it invariably is.

Robert Alt ascending a nearly-vertical pitch with PaDawa approving and guiding him from above.