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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nA small group of Furtenbach Adventures<\/a> clients plan to fly to Kathmandu this spring and try out a new climbing method. After arriving, they will receive xenon therapy in a clinic before flying to Everest Base Camp for an immediate summit push. The plan is to climb Everest in three days, with full oxygen and sherpa support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How? Xenon, an inert gas occasionally used as an anesthetic, has been observed to have the side effect of radically increasing the body\u2019s production of EPO (erythropoietin, a hormone that regulates a healthy level of red blood cells). Xenon helps red blood cells multiply without acclimatizing or injecting a synthetic version of the hormone. Furtenbach became a believer in xenon therapy after it was suggested by Michael Fries, a German anesthesiologist. It was tried by Furtenbach to great success on a climb of Aconcagua in 2000. Medical studies show it doesn’t have any of the harmful side effects of other similar medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hope is to reduce HACE and HAPE deaths, reduce the dangerous up and down traversals through the Khumbu ice sheet, as well as reduce the life-threatening effects of frostbite and high altitude degradation. It is causing a stir in the climbing community that believes this just reinforces the idea of a more tourist-like behavior of bagging a summit for Instagram over demonstrating real climbing skills or embracing the hard-fought values of the climbing community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The method may be fast, but it won’t be cheap. Furtenbach will charge his xenon climbers $154,000. Xenon gas treatment is extremely pricey: A 30-minute session costs $5,000 per person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t have time for pesky weeks of acclimatization when you want to climb Mt Everest? How about doing the whole thing in under a week. All through the wonders of Xenon gas. A small group of Furtenbach Adventures clients plan to fly to Kathmandu this spring and try out a new climbing method. After arriving, they will receive xenon therapy in a clinic before flying to Everest Base Camp for an immediate summit push. The plan is to climb Everest…<\/p>\n\n