Overview

• The climbers, including UK Veterans Minister Alistair Carns, summited Everest on May 21, just six days after leaving London, in one of the fastest recorded ascents.
• The team employed a combination of hypoxic tent training and xenon gas therapy to accelerate acclimatisation, bypassing the traditional multi-week adjustment period.
• Xenon gas, which stimulates red blood cell production, is controversial due to safety concerns and its 2014 ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency for performance enhancement.
• The expedition, led by Furtenbach Adventures, also aimed to reduce environmental impact by shortening time spent on the mountain and raising funds for veterans' charities.
• Medical experts and mountaineering groups have raised concerns over the unproven safety of xenon gas at extreme altitudes, calling for more research before broader adoption.