All four members of the Furtenbach Adventures team who prepped for their climb by hypoxic training at home and breathing Xenon gas, summited Everest today, five days after leaving the UK.
They now have 48 hours to get back to Base Camp and link helicopters and planes in order to complete their goal: a successful Everest expedition in 7 days.
Whether or not they make that deadline, expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach has already shown the Everest industry that a week-long holiday is long enough to reach the top of the world.
‘Windy but doable’
Garth Miller, Alastair Carns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington of the UK stepped on the summit of Everest at 7:15 am Nepal time today. They were accompanied by UK photographer Sandro Gromen-Hayes and a strong Sherpa team: Pasang Tendi Sherpa Guide, Pemba Rinji Sherpa, Nima Nuru Sherpa, Gelu Sherpa, Pemba Rickchhen Sherpa, Karma Sherpa, Mingma Chhiri Sherpa, and Phu Dorji Sherpa. Only five of them — we don’t yet know which ones — summited with the British climbers, but the other two provided essential support.
Conditions were “windy but doable,” according to Furtenbach, who oversaw the climb from Base Camp.
At this moment, the team is coming down the Lhotse Face. Since setting off from London, their live location has been available over Twitch at the expedition website.
The UK climbers’ position at 5:40 pm Nepal time on May 21. From their expedition tracker.
Opening the Xenon era?
Furtenbach told ExplorersWeb that only the four clients had undergone the Xenon therapy. The Sherpa staff and Sandro Gromen-Hayes didn’t need it, as they had already been on the mountain for six weeks, acclimatizing in the classical way.
Rather than a mountaineering or even an athletic achievement, the successful climb suggests that Xenon may really enhance acclimatization. This opens a debate for climbers eyeing a fast, safer ascent, not only on Everest but on any high-altitude peak.
Still, it is early to conclude that this is a miracle breakthrough, as other factors may also have contributed to their success, including their training, fitness, the use of oxygen, and other support.
In case other outfitters are keen to jump quickly on this bandwagon, Furtenbach says his company “can keep the protocol exclusive.”
Elite Exped crashes Xenon party
Furtenbach is not the only one trying to create an ultra-express expedition market. Elite Exped, Nirmal Purja’s company, just issued a press release stating that their client, Andrew Ushakov of the U.S. made it from New York City to the summit of Everest in just 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes, assisted by five Sherpa guides.
Elite Exped had previously informed no one of this record attempt. There was no live tracking, and Ushakov has no social media presence: He has not updated his Instagram for over three years. The press release only says that the climber used “traditional” supplementary oxygen from Base Camp to summit, but no dexamethasone or Xenon.
It also noted that “Ushakov started his challenge from sea level, starting at New York on May 15 at 12.30 am and flying to Kathmandu and then Everest Base Camp. Then he and his Elite Exped team stood on the summit of Everest on May 19 at 9.22 am.”
We have asked Elite Exped and Ushakov’s PR team for details and will update in a future story.
