Xenon gas does not help elite climbers

Inhaling xenon does not improve mountain-climbing performance, according to a recent scientific review in the journal High Altitude Medicine and Biology. The authors found no evidence that inhaling the gas before high-altitude expeditions — a method tried by climbers during 2024 and 2025 Mount Everest ascents — improves acclimatization or shortens travel time. 

The analysis examined claims that xenon inhalation could help mountaineers adapt more quickly to extreme altitude. Despite widespread media attention surrounding its use on Everest, the researchers concluded that using xenon with climbing lacks scientific support and that its risks may outweigh unproven benefits. 

“While xenon has interesting biological properties, there is currently no credible evidence it enhances altitude performance or safety,” the authors noted. “Other aspects of the expedition protocols likely played a much greater role in determining success rates.” 

“I know that all the attention was on xenon in these stories, but the climbers were doing other things to prepare that made more of a difference,” said Dr. Andrew Luks, a UW Medicine lung specialist and corresponding author of the review. “In fact, there really was no evidence of xenon doing anything.”  

Luks is a professor of medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.  

Climbers’ use of the gas grabbed headlines in May, when four Brits went from London to the top of Everest, the world’s highest mountain at 29,032 feet, in seven days. Usually, such acclimatization takes weeks.  

Xenon, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, is being explored for high-altitude climbing because it may stimulate the body to increase production of red blood cells. Presumably, this increase might enhance oxygen capacity and facilitate acclimatization to high altitude.  

In January, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation issued a statement against xenon’s use and said more study is needed.  

Luks, a climber who has not ascended Everest, said much credit for fast ascents can be attributed to the use hypoxic tents, where the climbers rested and slept for many weeks before traveling to Nepal. These tents allowed their bodies to acclimatize to high altitudes.  

Liberal use of supplemental oxygen while climbing helped as well, he said.  The climbers started supplementing oxygen when they arrived at their base camp and continued their use all the way up the mountain. 

"When someone is using supplemental oxygen while climbing Mount Everest, their body is not experiencing the physiology of Mount Everest, but the physiology of a lower mountain,” Luks said.  

The review examined xenon’s physiological effects, evaluated potential mechanisms for its use in low-oxygen environments, and highlighted possible medical and logistical risks. It also urged caution among climbers and expedition leaders considering xenon inhalation as a shortcut to acclimatization. 

“Xenon has shown some effect in animal studies, where it’s been demonstrated to increase the production of erythropoietin and provide some protection against neurologic injury following cardiac arrest or traumatic brain injury,” Luks said. “But the problem with those arguments is that there is no evidence it increases hemoglobin or exercise performance in humans, nor are climbers at high altitude experiencing anything resembling cardiac arrest or traumatic brain injury.”  

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