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ISTANBUL

Instead of gathering for a traditional puja ceremony at Everest Base Camp – where climbers seek blessings for a safe ascent – some are now starting their journey up the world’s highest mountain after taking controlled doses of xenon gas in a European clinic.

Touted as the latest frontier in high-altitude climbing, xenon pre-acclimatization simulates the effects of elevation weeks before arrival in Nepal.

For some, it’s a breakthrough in expedition safety, but for others, it’s the latest affront to Mount Everest’s dignity.

Earlier this season, four British climbers summited Everest in under five days, thanks to a xenon protocol pioneered by Austrian expedition organizer Lukas Furtenbach. By simulating altitude weeks in advance, his team skipped the grueling acclimatization stages that normally take more than a month.

Nepal’s government, caught off guard, quickly launched an investigation.

Xenon stimulates red blood cell production, Furtenbach told Anadolu, enabling climbers to adapt to low-oxygen environments in the weeks before they climb. The benefits, he explained, are less time in dangerous areas like the Khumbu Icefall and a lower risk of altitude sickness.

But the use of xenon gas, promising to make the mountain even more accessible, has led to heated debate. Once the pinnacle of human endurance, Everest is already increasingly crowded and commercial.

Add chemical acceleration to the mix, and many fear a slippery slope.

Sushil Khadka, director of the Avni Center for Sustainability, a Nepali NGO, is among the critics warning that this shortcut could further exacerbate Everest’s growing environmental and cultural problems.

“There is only one Mount Everest in the whole world, so if you make Mount Everest a racing car competition, then can you imagine what will happen?” said Khadka, stressing that the mountain’s sanctity must be preserved.

Safety or performance-enhancing drugs?

For Furtenbach, the conversation around xenon and speed climbs is rooted in safety. Even with traditional acclimatization, around 10% of climbers still suffer from altitude sickness, he said, claiming xenon can bring the risk down to “almost zero.”

“The people that are using xenon still have to climb the same mountain, the same distances, the same difficulty. So, it doesn’t make the climb easier – it makes it safer,” he said.

The gas, which can be used as an anesthetic, has side effects like nausea, hypertension and vomiting, according to the US Anti-Doping Agency.

Furtenbach dismisses doping comparisons, saying climbing Everest is not a competitive sport. “If I’m two minutes faster or less, it’s not important,” he added.

Khadka, though, says that the use of xenon fuels a competitive drive that could escalate into dangerous and harmful behavior.

“Next year, somebody will come and spend 24 hours climbing Mount Everest, which could be possible also,” he said, suggesting people could take a helicopter to the third base camp and climb, xenon-loaded, from there.

Like xenon, the money is made in Europe too

Khadka pointed out that expeditions are already run mostly by profit-driven foreign companies, leaving Nepal to struggle with the growing waste problem.

“Mount Everest is not up for sale. It’s not for commerce. It’s a very precious piece of nature,” he told Anadolu.

But Furtenbach insists that quick ascents do not undercut the local economy. His teams still hire Sherpas, pay permit fees, and inject money into the region.

He even argues that if climbers could complete their ascent in two weeks rather than two months, it would allow more people to climb, boosting revenue without reducing overall income.

But Khadka disagrees.

“Out of $100, we don’t take more than $5 or $6. Everything goes back to Europe or America,” he said, pointing to the cost of foreign-made gear and specialty food.

Nepal’s government receives around $6 million a year from Everest royalties – far less than the estimated $50 per kilogram cost of cleaning up expedition waste, he said.

Investigation and government oversight

Nepal’s investigation into the British climbers’ xenon-fueled ascent has so far produced few results.

Furtenbach said he met with officials to clarify his team’s approach, stressing that the xenon was administered legally in Germany two weeks before the climb.

“They thought that we were using xenon on the mountain in our oxygen cylinders … which is not possible,” he said. “They have been fine with this clarification, and they said they are not against xenon. They just need to understand this new way of climbing, what it could mean in the long term for the climbing industry in Nepal.”

Furtenbach asserted that his team did not violate any Nepalese mountaineering regulations. “It is an absolutely legal medical treatment in Germany, in most of European countries. It has a medical license,” he said.

“We did not violate any Nepalese mountaineering regulations … but the Nepalese government was concerned that we did use xenon in Nepal or on the mountain.”

Meanwhile, Khadka questioned the government’s oversight capacity.

“There are so many illegal activities, so many … unethical activities being operated in base camp, and while climbing, and the Nepal government is not overseeing it,” he said.

He pointed to Nepali lawmaker Bishwo Prakash Sharma’s recent visit to Everest. “After he came back … he said he did not find the Nepali government in Everest, at the base camp … It is complete lawlessness.”

Nepali journalist and mountaineer Dewan Rai also told Anadolu that the investigation is stalled. “The so-called ‘investigation’ has not made any headway so far … The government is at loss,” he said. “It might take months to decide for them.”

Future of the sacred peak

Furtenbach predicts a wider adoption of xenon for climbing in the coming decade.

“Even if I were to go on a two-month expedition now, I would use xenon, because I feel safer and I feel better on the mountain. I think this will also be the future of xenon in mountaineering. We will see the same progress as we saw with bottled oxygen,” he said.

But with the high cost, he noted, it may remain an elite option.

Khadka rejects the idea of turning Everest into a commercial attraction and says it is time for legislative action.

“We, Nepali people, Nepal’s parliament, need to act on this – we need to pass a very strong act regulating these activities, so our campaign is to ban all 6,000-plus-meter expeditions,” he said.

He warned that Everest is nearing a tipping point, saying: “If this continues, we could lose it in five years.”

High-altitude climbs are intensifying just as climate change devastates the Himalayas, he added.

“The amount of negative impacts through human activities that we are imparting in that high altitude and fragile environment is … massive,” he said. “We will not have snow-capped mountains anymore because global warming is already impacting the high Himalayas of Nepal.”

He emphasized that while Nepal contributes little to global emissions, its people bear the brunt of climate change.

The Himalayan ecosystem provides water for over 2 billion people, he said. “You cannot compromise these 2 billion people for like two or three record-breakers.”