{"id":295489,"date":"2025-01-22T14:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T13:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/leverest-en-7-jours-charge-comme-une-mule\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T10:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T09:30:28","slug":"everest-in-a-week-xenon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/everest-in-a-week-xenon\/","title":{"rendered":"Climbing Everest in A Week with Xenon gas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”1px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alpinemag.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/alpine.quotes-02.png” title_text=”alpine.quotes-02″ align=”center” show_bottom_space_tablet=”” show_bottom_space_phone=”” show_bottom_space_last_edited=”on|phone” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.22.1″ max_width=”50%” max_width_tablet=”” max_width_phone=”100%” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”||-40px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”0px||-40px||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

L<\/span>eaving home on Monday morning. To reach the summit of Everest on Thursday night, and return home on Sunday… That’s the dream of a client on Everest next spring. Doing Everest in a week is not a joke, but the very serious announcement of an Austrian guide, Lukas Furtenbach, who markets expeditions to Everest. This spring, for the hefty sum of 150,000 euros, a small group of his VIP clients will use xenon, a rare gas used to stimulate the production of red blood cells, before heading up the mountain. Yes, the same rare gas used to manufacture ultra-bright car headlight bulbs. The same rare gas used in anesthesia.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

Climb to the top of Mount Everest in three days, in one go<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

Furtenbach and his company claim to be the first to market expeditions with hypoxic preparation, i.e. a period of several weeks during which customers, at home, combine sleep in a hypoxic tent or physical activity (exercise bike) under hypoxia.<\/p>\n

The idea is always the same: acclimatize at home, simulating the lack of oxygen, and arrive at Everest base camp pre-acclimatized. The aim is to reduce the time needed on site: three weeks instead of six to eight weeks for a conventional expedition.<\/p>\n

But Furtenbach’s announcement, in a long article in the Financial Times, of xenon as a new means of acclimatization is of a different nature. With the announced objective of climbing Everest in three days, in one go, arriving at base camp the day before.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alpinemag.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jocelynchavy_everest-9151-2.jpg” title_text=”jocelynchavy_everest-9151-2″ align=”center” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font=”Merriweather|900|||||||” text_font_size=”16″ custom_margin=”-12px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u00a9JC<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

Xenon has been used in anaesthesia for years, but only for specific procedures, as it is a rare and expensive gas, a resource not widely available on the planet. But a doctor suggested that Furtenbach experiment with xenon at high altitude, as it increases the natural production of erythropoietin, a hormone that increases the number of red blood cells in the blood – and oxygen transport in the muscles.<\/p>\n

This is the fast and furious version of acclimatization, at $5,000 per pre-Everest session for each client. A synthetic molecule, EPO is the cornerstone of the doping which has ruined cycling for the past thirty years, with a certain Lance Armstrong, a fan of EPO injections. He has since been stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

The rich don’t have the time to walk to base camp or acclimatize<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

Furtenbach tried xenon on himself, reaching Aconcagua (6910 m) seven days after leaving Innsbruck. Furtenbach takes offence at talk of doping. After all, aren’t oxygen cylinders a doping agent? Not to mention all the drugs swallowed by the contenders before and during the summit: diamox, viagra (and its vasodilator effects), codeine, dexamethasone, and even cocaine, it seems.<\/p>\n

While oxygen cylinders are used to compensate for the lack of oxygen, and even if they are used as early as camp 2 (6400 meters) for some, the same cannot be said for xenon: rarer and more expensive than coke, but just as little present in the air we breathe. It’s not synthetic EPO, but the principle is the same.<\/p>\n

Furtenbach’s main argument? Safety. Less risk of edema and accidents when doing acclimatization rotations. Less crap at base camp, less coughing at altitude. But the health of its golden customers is not the real reason behind xenon.<\/p>\n

The super-rich don’t have the time: neither to walk to Everest base camp, nor to acclimatize. Kathmandu? Don’t ask, it’s polluted. Furtenbach has understood this: he who finds clients for his VIP expeditions to Everest starting at 75,000 euros, is having trouble convincing new ones, because of the time it takes.<\/p>\n

If it were possible to drop customers off by helicopter at the summit of Everest for a selfie, no doubt someone would suggest it. In the theoretically protected Antarctic, an agency for ultra-rich tourists is already offering a three-hour picnic on site (with champagne) for a ten-hour AR flight from South Africa.<\/p>\n

So to climb Everest in a week, what a bargain! As a matter of fact, to paraphrase a French humorist*, Everest would be less difficult to do without crampons than without doping.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Coluche’s quote : \u201cLe Tour de France, il serait moins dur \u00e0 faire sans le v\u00e9lo que sans le dopage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaving home on Monday morning. To reach the summit of Everest on Thursday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":295490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"[et_pb_section fb_built=\"1\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" custom_margin_tablet=\"\" custom_margin_phone=\"\" custom_margin_last_edited=\"on|desktop\" custom_padding=\"1px||||false|false\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_row _builder_version=\"4.22.1\" _module_preset=\"default\" max_width=\"800px\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_column type=\"4_4\" _builder_version=\"4.22.1\" _module_preset=\"default\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_image src=\"https:\/\/alpinemag.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/alpine.quotes-02.png\" title_text=\"alpine.quotes-02\" align=\"center\" show_bottom_space_tablet=\"\" show_bottom_space_phone=\"\" show_bottom_space_last_edited=\"on|phone\" align_tablet=\"center\" align_phone=\"\" align_last_edited=\"on|desktop\" _builder_version=\"4.22.1\" max_width=\"50%\" max_width_tablet=\"\" max_width_phone=\"100%\" max_width_last_edited=\"on|desktop\" module_alignment=\"center\" custom_margin=\"||-40px||false|false\" custom_margin_tablet=\"\" custom_margin_phone=\"0px||-40px||false|false\" custom_margin_last_edited=\"on|phone\" custom_padding=\"0px||||false|false\" border_style=\"solid\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"4.22.1\" _module_preset=\"default\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\"4.16\" max_width=\"800px\" module_alignment=\"center\" custom_margin_tablet=\"\" custom_margin_phone=\"\" custom_margin_last_edited=\"on|phone\" use_custom_width=\"on\" custom_width_px=\"800px\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_column type=\"4_4\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" custom_padding=\"|||\" global_colors_info=\"{}\" custom_padding__hover=\"|||\"][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" text_font_size=\"18px\" z_index_tablet=\"500\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]\n

[dropcap size=big]P[\/dropcap]artir de chez soi le lundi matin. \u00catre au sommet de l\u2019Everest dans la nuit de jeudi, et rentrer chez soi le dimanche... C\u2019est le r\u00eave d\u2019un client \u00e0 l\u2019Everest au printemps prochain. Faire l\u2019Everest en une semaine n\u2019est pas une blague, mais la tr\u00e8s s\u00e9rieuse annonce d\u2019un guide autrichien, Lukas Furtenbach, qui commercialise des exp\u00e9ditions \u00e0 l\u2019Everest. Ce printemps, pour la somme rondelette de 150 000 euros, un petit groupe de ses clients VIP utilisera du x\u00e9non, un gaz rare permettant de stimuler la fabrication de globules rouges, avant de se rendre sur la montagne. Oui, le m\u00eame gaz rare qui est utilis\u00e9 pour fabriquer les ampoules ultra-lumineuses de phares de voiture. Le m\u00eame gaz rare, surtout, utilis\u00e9 en anesth\u00e9sie.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=\"#000000\" quote_icon_background_color=\"#ffffff\" _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" body_font=\"Oswald|700||on|||||\" body_text_align=\"center\" body_text_color=\"#000000\" body_font_size=\"30\" use_background_color=\"off\" custom_margin=\"50px||||false|false\" saved_tabs=\"all\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]\n\nMonter au sommet de l'Everest en trois jours, d'une traite. Le tarif ? 150000 euros.\n\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" text_font_size=\"18px\" z_index_tablet=\"500\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]\n

Furtenbach et sa soci\u00e9t\u00e9 revendiquent la paternit\u00e9 de la commercialisation des exp\u00e9ditions avec pr\u00e9paration hypoxique, c\u2019est-\u00e0-dire avec une p\u00e9riode de plusieurs semaines o\u00f9 les clients, \u00e0 domicile, mixent sommeil sous tente hypoxique ou activit\u00e9 physique (v\u00e9lo d\u2019appartement) sous hypoxie.<\/p>\n

L\u2019id\u00e9e est toujours la m\u00eame : r\u00e9aliser l\u2019acclimatation \u00e0 domicile en simulant le manque d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne, et arriver au camp de base de l\u2019Everest en \u00e9tant pr\u00e9-acclimat\u00e9. L\u2019objectif est de r\u00e9duire le temps n\u00e9cessaire sur place : trois semaines au lieu de six \u00e0 huit semaines pour une exp\u00e9dition classique.<\/p>\n

Mais l\u2019annonce par Furtenbach, dans un long article du Financial Times<\/em>, du x\u00e9non comme nouveau moyen d\u2019acclimatation est d\u2019une autre nature. Avec l\u2019objectif annonc\u00e9 de faire l\u2019ascension de Everest en trois jours, d\u2019une traite, en arrivant au camp de base la veille.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=\"https:\/\/alpinemag.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jocelynchavy_everest-9151-2.jpg\" title_text=\"jocelynchavy_everest-9151-2\" align=\"center\" _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" _module_preset=\"default\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" text_font=\"Merriweather|900|||||||\" text_font_size=\"16\" custom_margin=\"-12px||||false|false\" border_style=\"solid\" saved_tabs=\"all\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]\n\nL'Everest versant n\u00e9palais \u00a9JC\n\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\"4.16\" max_width=\"800px\" module_alignment=\"center\" custom_margin_tablet=\"\" custom_margin_phone=\"\" custom_margin_last_edited=\"on|phone\" use_custom_width=\"on\" custom_width_px=\"800px\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_column type=\"4_4\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" custom_padding=\"|||\" global_colors_info=\"{}\" custom_padding__hover=\"|||\"][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" text_font_size=\"18px\" z_index_tablet=\"500\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]\n

Le x\u00e9non est utilis\u00e9 en anesth\u00e9sie depuis la fin des ann\u00e9es 2000 en France, pour des interventions particuli\u00e8res car c\u2019est un gaz rare et cher, une ressource peu disponible sur la plan\u00e8te. Mais un m\u00e9decin a propos\u00e9 \u00e0 Furtenbach d\u2019exp\u00e9rimenter le x\u00e9non en haute altitude car il permet d\u2019accro\u00eetre la production naturelle d\u2019erythropo\u00ef\u00e9tine, une hormone qui augmente le nombre de globules rouges dans le sang - et le transport d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne dans les muscles.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est l\u2019acclimatation version fast and furious, \u00e0 5000 dollars la s\u00e9ance pr\u00e9-Everest pour chaque client. Version mol\u00e9cule de synth\u00e8se, l\u2019EPO est la cl\u00e9 de vo\u00fbte du dopage qui a ruin\u00e9 le cyclisme depuis trente ans, avec un certain Lance Armstrong, adepte d\u2019injections d\u2019EPO. Et d\u00e9chu de ses 7 titres du tour de France depuis.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=\"#000000\" quote_icon_background_color=\"#ffffff\" _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" body_font=\"Oswald|700||on|||||\" body_text_align=\"center\" body_text_color=\"#000000\" body_font_size=\"30\" use_background_color=\"off\" custom_margin=\"50px||||false|false\" saved_tabs=\"all\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]\n\nLes riches n'ont pas le temps, ni d'aller au camp de base \u00e0 pied, ni de s'acclimater\n\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\"4.16\" max_width=\"800px\" module_alignment=\"center\" custom_margin_tablet=\"\" custom_margin_phone=\"\" custom_margin_last_edited=\"on|phone\" use_custom_width=\"on\" custom_width_px=\"800px\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_column type=\"4_4\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" custom_padding=\"|||\" global_colors_info=\"{}\" custom_padding__hover=\"|||\"][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"4.24.2\" text_font_size=\"18px\" hover_enabled=\"0\" z_index_tablet=\"500\" global_colors_info=\"{}\" sticky_enabled=\"0\"]\n

Furtenbach a essay\u00e9 le x\u00e9non sur lui-m\u00eame, atteignant l\u2019Aconcagua (6910 m) sept jours apr\u00e8s son d\u00e9part d\u2019Innsbruck. Furtenbach s\u2019offusque qu\u2019on puisse parler de dopage. Apr\u00e8s tout, les bouteilles d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne ne sont-elles pas un dopant ? Sans parler de toute la pharmacop\u00e9e aval\u00e9e par les pr\u00e9tendants avant et pendant le sommet : diamox, viagra (et ses effets vaso-dilatateurs), cod\u00e9ine, dexam\u00e9thasone, et m\u00eame coca\u00efne parait-il.<\/p>\n

Si les bouteilles d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne sont utilis\u00e9es pour compenser le manque d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne, et m\u00eame si elles sont utilis\u00e9es d\u00e8s le camp 2 (6400 m\u00e8tres) pour certains, il n\u2019en va pas de m\u00eame avec le x\u00e9non : plus rare et plus cher que la coke, mais aussi peu pr\u00e9sent dans l\u2019air que l\u2019on respire. Ce n'est pas de l'EPO de synth\u00e8se, mais le principe revient au m\u00eame.<\/p>\n

L\u2019argument principal de Furtenbach ? La s\u00e9curit\u00e9. Moins de risques d\u2019oed\u00e8mes, et d\u2019accidents en faisant des rotations d\u2019acclimatation. Moins de chiasse au camp de base, moins de toux en altitude. Mais la sant\u00e9 de ses clients en or n\u2019est pas la v\u00e9ritable raison derri\u00e8re le x\u00e9non.<\/p>\n

Les super riches n\u2019ont pas le temps : ni d\u2019aller au camp de base de l\u2019Everest \u00e0 pied, ni de s\u2019acclimater. Katmandou ? Ne m'en parlez pas, c'est pollu\u00e9. Furtenbach l\u2019a compris : lui qui trouve des clients pour ses exp\u00e9ditions VIP \u00e0 l\u2019Everest \u00e0 partir de 75 000 euros, a d\u00fb mal \u00e0 en convaincre de nouveaux, en raison du temps<\/em> que cela prend.<\/p>\n

Si on pouvait d\u00e9poser en h\u00e9lico des clients au sommet de l\u2019Everest pour un selfie, nul doute que quelqu\u2019un le proposerait. En Antarctique, th\u00e9oriquement prot\u00e9g\u00e9, une agence pour touristes ultra fortun\u00e9s propose d\u00e9j\u00e0 un pique-nique de ...trois heures sur place (avec champagne) pour un voyage AR de dix heures d\u2019avion au d\u00e9part de l\u2019Afrique du Sud.<\/p>\n

Alors faire l\u2019Everest en une semaine, quelle aubaine. D\u2019ailleurs, pour paraphraser Coluche*, l\u2019Everest serait moins dur \u00e0 faire sans les crampons que sans le dopage.<\/p>\n

* \u00ab Le Tour de\u00a0France<\/span>, il\u00a0serait<\/span>\u00a0moins<\/span>\u00a0dur \u00e0\u00a0faire<\/span>\u00a0sans le v\u00e9lo que sans le\u00a0dopage<\/span><\/em>.\u00bb<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-295489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mountaineering","tag-everest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295489"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":295495,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295489\/revisions\/295495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}