The Xenon Controversy Surrounding the British Sagarmatha Expedition

Four British former special forces soldiers — Major Garth Miller, Colonel and Veterans Minister Alistair Scott Carns, Anthony James Stazicker and Kevin Francis Godlington — claim to have set a record (of sorts) on May 21 by climbing Sagarmatha, the world’s highest peak, in under five days and landed straight into a huge controversy.

What is the controversy all about? 

Instead of acclimatizing on the mountain (as part of preparations for the ascent), a process that takes six to eight weeks, the team used xenon, an inert gas, to help them pre-acclimatize to low oxygen at high altitudes.

While organizers said the use of xenon was behind such a fast ascent, many in the mountaineering industry have criticized this method.  

The ascent in question is a "record ascent" of the highest mountain without acclimatization in the Himalayas, but it's not the fastest ascent of the highest peak, which still belongs to Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who climbed from the base camp to the highest summit from the south side in 10 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds on May 26, 2003. The xenon-aided (powered?) team was accompanied by five Sherpa guides and a cameraman.


Pre-acclimatization

The four former soldiers, including the minister, slept for six weeks in special tents before traveling to Nepal to help them acclimatize to decreased levels of oxygen at high altitude.

They then flew to the base camp from Kathmandu and started climbing straight away, Lukas Furtenbach, the expedition organizer, said. They used supplemental oxygen, like other climbers, during the expedition.

Climbers usually spend weeks going up and down between base camp and higher camps — a process known as acclimatization — before making the final push for the summit to get used to the thin air at high mountain altitudes. At the death zone (above 8,000m), available oxygen is only a third of that present at sea level.

A great ascent or a descent as great? 

Given the rate at which technological advancements are taking place, one wonders, if it will be possible for humanity to drop one day atop the world’s highest peak using a special purpose aircraft, establish its "greatness" against the humble mountains and take a selfie, wefie or two with that signature "we knocked that ******* off attitude". 

Or who knows? Even a cable car ride atop the world and back at hurtling speeds may be possible, turning the highest peak into a picnic spot of sorts. 

The belief of Nepali communities that these mountains are abodes of deities, that they themselves are manifestations of different supernatural beings does not count, or does it?            

What kind of ethical questions will such ingenious methods of ascending or descending atop the highest point on Earth give rise to, if at all? What of human endeavor that seeks to triumph against all odds? Let’s leave it to the future.  

Finally, a probe

Meanwhile, after the team’s controversial way of scaling the mountain came to light and Sagarmatha—and Nepal—hogged the limelight once again (not exactly for a right reason), the Department of Tourism under the government of Nepal has launched a probe. Here's hoping that the controversy that erupted just days before the end of the spring climbing season (March-May) will inspire humanity to ponder more over the enormity of the mountains and their central place in this Living Planet, apart from making Nepali authorities more aware of the need to be more watchful up north.