The Technology Taking Time Off Everest Expeditions

Everest in the news

Climbing Mount Everest takes time, careful training, extensive planning and preparation, not to mention deep pockets. Summiting the tallest mountain in the world requires an immense investment - mentally, physically and financially - and remains a bucket list dream for many mountaineers. Whilst Kandoo Adventures don’t facilitate climbs to Everest summit, we do offer a choice of fantastic trekking routes to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Our itineraries are more achievable, more accessible and less expensive, but still give those who travel with us the unique opportunity to experience the magic of the mighty Himalayas.

So, when we heard that four British veterans had summited Everest just five days after leaving London, our little ears perked up. How was this possible?! We had to find out - read on to discover what we learned about this groundbreaking expedition.

How long does it take to climb Everest?

Typically, climbing Mount Everest can take anywhere between 6-8 weeks but might take much longer depending on conditions on the mountain. There are two main seasons in which the weather and terrain are more conducive to summit attempts. These are the spring season from late April to late May, or the autumn season from September to November. Both climbing seasons tend to have calmer winds, warmer temperatures and more ‘weather windows’, periods where skies are clear and conditions are calm – the perfect time to push for the summit and the demanding descent that follows.

Although most expeditions to the highest mountain in the world take on average 2 months, there are a few notable exceptions to this time frame.

The first ever successful summit of Everest occurred in 1953 by mountaineers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. It took 4 weeks of their expedition just to establish camp at what is now South Everest Base Camp and a further 6 weeks before they successfully summited. This mission was only achievable with a team of over 400 men, a mixture of mountaineers, physicians, porters, sherpas and guides.

The record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest was set by Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa on May 26, 2003. Starting from Everest Base Camp, he ascended to the summit in an astonishing 10 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. The total time, including his descent from the top took 18 hours and 20 minutes. This record remains unbroken, 23 years later.

In 2018, Furtenbach Adventures launched their FLASH™ Everest experience - a 28 day summit expedition. But thanks to near perfect conditions, the first team to undertake the experience reached the summit just 21 days after leaving their homes. Somewhat controversially, Furtenbach Adventures are paving the way for shorter and shorter trips that use the latest technology to facilitate preparation, reducing the need for waiting around to acclimatise. Their fastest expedition to date took just 7 days. We’ll take a closer look at this mission below.

Why do people climb Mount Everest?

People climb Mount Everest for all sorts of different reasons. Mountaineers who enjoy the challenge of new summits will inevitably view Everest as their ‘whale’ – the ultimate peak to climb, the highest in the world. Others will be inspired by a sense of adventure, a desire to test their limits. Some may view standing on top of the world as their life’s biggest achievement – a feat of mind over matter. Adventurers love pushing boundaries and what better way to test your endurance than to take on a challenge such as this. Many will set out to climb Everest, simply because it’s there.

More and more people are climbing Mount Everest than ever before and the toll this is taking on the mountain is undeniable. Civilians, those without mountaineering experience, are also setting their sights on this ultimate adventure and summiting the tallest mountain in the world is safer and more accessible than ever, provided you have the financial means.

Find out how much it costs to climb Everest in our blog.

How is this recent expedition different?

On Friday 16th May 2025, four veterans - Alistair Carns, Labour Minister for Veterans, pilot Garth Miller, Anthony Stazicker, aka Staz, co-founder of ThruDark and Kevin Godlington – departed London Heathrow bound for Mount Everest. They arrived in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, on Saturday 17th May, took a helicopter flight to Everest Base Camp on the same day, and 4 days later on Wednesday 21st May they reached the summit at 8,849m high. They descended the same day and took a helicopter back to Kathmandu on Thursday 22nd May, reaching home in the UK the same day. The Mission: Everest was complete.

How?!

This record-breaking summit trip was organised by Furtenbach Adventures, an expedition company founded by Austrian mountaineer and entrepreneur Lukas Furtenbach. Since its founding in 2002, Furtenbach has been experimenting with technology to streamline mountaineering expeditions. In 2016, they began applying these advancements to their first commercial Everest climbs. Let’s take a closer look at some of the strategies adopted by this epic fundraising mission to fuel their success.

Technological advancements

Pre-acclimatisation

The concept of pre-acclimatisation has been talked about since the first expeditions to Everest – the idea that pre-exposure to high altitudes could help mountaineers stay at higher altitude for longer safely. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the principle of ‘live high, train low’ (LHTL) was introduced as a way of training endurance athletes. This was replicated by alpinists who began experimenting with trekking high and sleeping low, culminating in the approach that is widely used today on high altitude trekking trips. All Kandoo Adventures itineraries follow this principle, and it is integral to our high summit success rates.

In the early 2000s, hypoxic training took a step forward as commercial altitude simulation systems became available to the public. Hypoxic workouts involve cardio training in low-oxygen environments, gradually conditioning the heart and lungs to handle increased respiration and elevated heart rates at high altitudes where oxygen levels are lower. Used mainly by endurance athletes, the military and elite mountaineers, this kind of pre-acclimatisation was essential to the success of The Mission: Everest. The team trained in oxygen masks that replicated the oxygen levels of 5,000m+ altitudes, whilst having their VO2 max monitored.

Between 8-10 weeks prior to their expedition, the team also began sleeping in hypoxic tents. These tents sit over your head, neck and upper torso while you sleep that are hooked up to a generator that maintains a low level of oxygen within the tent. This passive exposure to reduced oxygen concentrations is a key part of the preparation required for the shorter Everest expeditions Furtenbach Adventures offer. In this specific instance, each member of the team clocked up over 500 hours in their hypoxic tents.

Hypoxic training boosts the body’s ability to carry oxygen and enhances mitochondrial efficiency, helping to produce energy under physical stress. For mountaineers, this means less time needed for acclimatisation on the mountain and a reduced risk of acute mountain sickness.

Mountaineering Gear

Historically, mountaineers climbed in cotton, wool, canvas and leather. None of these textiles are particularly breathable or offer complete protection from wind and rain. These days synthetic fabrics provide better insulation, more moisture-wicking capabilities and better weather protection.

This recent mission was made possible by extreme conditions clothing from ThruDark – each team member wore a bespoke Ultimate Summit Suit. The suits featured Pertex, a lightweight, durable, breathable fabric, plus Dyneema® a fibre stronger than steel but super lightweight. Designed with a strategic blend of goose down and PrimaLoft insulation, along with underarm and leg vents, the suits offered both warmth and breathability - ideal for preventing overheating during the day while keeping trekkers warm and dry in snow and ice. Weighing less than 1.5kg per suit, this attire delivered high thermal efficiency with low bulk and plenty of protection.

RECCO® technology, a passive rescue system used by mountain rescue teams, was built into the hood and leg of the suit, meaning that if they were to fall victim to an avalanche, one end would likely be pointing upwards and could be tracked using RECCO® receivers.

Furthermore, the suits were ergonomically designed with helmet hoods, glove attachments, ergonomic pockets, military grade materials and dual zippers for easy access into and out their outerwear.

It is safe to say that the comfort, warmth and protection offered by mountaineering suits such as these will inevitably improve the experience on the mountain for those wearing them. Being able to trek in adverse conditions means faster movement en route, highlighting the importance of more than adequate gear to produce quicker climbing results.

Wearables

The use of wearable devices is more common in mountaineering than ever before, and indeed in Nepal GPS trackers are mandatory for all Everest aspirants. This requirement allows ground and air rescue teams to locate those wearing them, should they need it.

The Mission: Everest team all wore continuous pulse oximeters and heart rate monitors that were remotely monitored by a dedicated expedition doctor in real-time. This is a standard procedure for all Furtenbach expeditions that allows live monitoring to flag potential issues before they can become dangerous. Wearables used in this way are designed to keep people safe on the mountain by reducing the risk of acute mountain sickness.

Supplemental oxygen

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay used supplemental oxygen on the first successful summit of Everest. Kristin Harila also used supplemental oxygen when she conquered the highest 14 summits in the world in just 14 days. Bottled oxygen has long been used when climbing Mount Everest as well as other high altitude peaks around the globe. This mission was no different – all four members used supplemental oxygen when climbing Everest.

Xenon gas

Finally, we come to the most controversial part of the recent summit record – Xenon gas. All four members of The Mission: Everest flew to St. Vincenz Hospital in Limburg, Germany two weeks before departure where they were administered a 30 minute dose of xenon gas. The gas was inhaled through a bell-shaped mask worn over the head.

Furtenbach himself has been using xenon gas since 2018 when Dr Fries of the clinic at St Vincenz reached out to him to discuss the benefits of the gas on pre-acclimatisation. Though there is much debate on the effectiveness of xenon gas, Furtenbach took an experimental dose before summiting Aconcagua in 2020 and reported that his oxygen levels post-summit were better than fully acclimatised local guides.

This experience highlighted the effectiveness of xenon in enhancing acclimatisation before setting foot on the mountain, according to Furtenbach. He also reported feeling strong throughout the expedition.

Xenon gas is a rare and expensive noble gas present in the Earth’s atmosphere that is extracted as a by-product of large scale oxygen and nitrogen production. It has anaesthetic properties that can cause dizziness, lethargy, and sedation. This raises significant concerns about its use in high-risk situations such as mountaineering expeditions, where impaired judgment could jeopardise safety.

The inhalation of xenon gas two weeks before climbing Everest was intended to give enough time to overcome any side effects whilst allowing maximum effect. Xenon gas triggers a temporary spike in erythropoietin, or EPO, which is a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. The principle behind taking xenon gas is to boost the oxygen carrying capabilities of red blood cells which is especially beneficial in high altitude environments where oxygen levels are lower.

Female athlete with altitude training mask

The results

Essentially, the success of this recent Everest expedition could be attributed to a unique combination of factors that created the perfect conditions for a fast summit. The physical capabilities of the veterans undoubtedly provided a strong starting point for this mission. Combined with their experience in extreme environments, the advantages of hypoxic training, bespoke mountaineering gear, stringent medical monitoring, and a boost from a potentially performance enhancing gas created a near perfect formula for success.

The role of technology in mountaineering

Mountaineering has evolved significantly since early expeditions which relied on large support teams and equipment that was heavy, rudimentary and unwieldy. These days mountaineering kit is light, foldable, durable and more affordable than ever before. And while mountaineering expeditions do still rely on porters, guides and support staff, nowhere near as many are needed by comparison.

Is it therefore a huge leap to adopt more advanced technology to push boundaries further?

Whether pre-acclimatised or not, wearing the latest gear or not, conquering summits still takes training, preparation and the right mindset. Using tech to help train your body and protect it whilst you trek won’t facilitate a successful climb if you haven’t prepared adequately beforehand. What it might do, is save time and expose your body to optimal training conditions giving you the best fighting chance of success.

Using this kind of technology will not make the distances any shorter, the conditions less challenging, the route easier or the altitude any less debilitating. However, oxygen will help you breathe at higher altitudes and a specially designed suit will help you maintain a safe body temperature in fast-changing conditions. Exposing your body to lower oxygen levels in advance might well help you cope with thinner air on the mountain, and training your body to exert itself with less oxygen will probably improve your cardiovascular capabilities in preparation for your climb.

The ethics of progress

The purists among us might say that acclimatisation at altitude is part and parcel of the whole experience of mountaineering and that preparing in advance takes something away somehow.

Pioneers such as Furtenbach will say that less time on the mountain results in less waste, better success rates and appeals to more people that might otherwise not have the time to spare. A significant benefit of The Mission: Everest was that less time spent on the mountain resulted in less negative impact on the delicate ecosystem here. Arguably, this could be a more sustainable way to climb Everest in the future.

The Nepali Mountaineering Association are conducting an enquiry into the safety of this 5 day mission. Concerns from Nepal include the effects shorter expeditions will have on local employment as well as how this might affect congestion on the mountain. Ultimately, ensuring that mountaineers are medically sound to make life-threatening decisions whilst at on the mountain is a key responsibility for this overseeing body.

n light of this super speedy ascent, opinions are surfacing from all sides - and with the autumn climbing season approaching, the conversation is only likely to grow. As the ethical debate continues, the overriding question is, just because we can do something, does that mean we should? We’ll let you mull that one over.

himalaya-leader-with-trekkers-altitude-adventure-smiles

Visiting Everest with Kandoo Adventures

To assuage your queries before they start – no we don’t offer hypoxia tents, hypoxic training, xenon gas or smart suits and wearables. We don’t take people to the summit of Everest, and we don’t charge hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We merely employ experienced, knowledgeable local guides, porters and sherpas and have stringent safety measures in place that monitor the health of all our clients during their time with us. We choose itineraries that are tried and tested, with proven success rates and work hard to make our Everest Base Camp trips fun, educational and memorable.

Our trips take a little longer than 5 days, but we believe that acclimatisation in the mountains is way more exciting than sleeping with a tent over your head. For trips to Everest Base Camp that produce lifelong memories filled with unforgettable moments, look no further. This is a specialty of ours and the Himalayas hold a very special place in our hearts. Get in touch with our awesome team to talk about your next adventure.

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