British Soldiers Make Everest History Using New Method
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
It is also a follow-up of Briton Attempts ‘Fastest Ever’ Everest Mission, Using Xenon Gas on this blog.
This is the sub-heading.
Four British former special forces soldiers have set a record by climbing Mount Everest in under five days without acclimatising on the mountain, as part of a high-speed expedition controversially aided by xenon gas.
These two introductory paragraphs add more detail.
The team, which included a UK government minister, summited the world’s highest peak early on Wednesday.
Xenon was used to help them pre-acclimatise to low oxygen at high altitudes. Climbers usually spend between six to eight weeks on Everest before summiting.
I still feel, that getting to the bottom of why xenon improves performance may have a medical application.
Briton Attempts ‘Fastest Ever’ Everest Mission, Using Xenon Gas
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Former Gurkha officer leading team that hopes to acclimatise and reach the peak within days not months
These two introductory paragraphs add more detail.
Mountaineers could soon leave home on a Monday, climb to the summit of Everest by Thursday, and “make it home for Sunday lunch” by using gas to boost their red blood cells.
Lukas Furtenbach, a guide from Austria, believes that xenon — a noble gas sometimes used as a rocket propellant — can help climbers “pre-acclimatise” to the high altitude, dramatically cutting the time required to conquer the world’s highest peak.
The Wikipedia entry for Xenon shows that it is more interesting than a noble gas with a heavy atomic weight of 293.
For instance it has been used in anesthesia according to Wikipedia.
Perhaps, it makes you fall asleep on Everest, so that a dozen hardy Sherpas can carry you all the way up to the summit.
So does this explain the use of xenon before climbing the mountain?
The question needs to be answered by a serious cardiologist with an interest in mountaineering and time on their hands.
The Anonymous Widower 