Underscoring both the alacrity and attendant ethical quandaries of contemporary Himalayan mountaineering, Lukas Furtenbach, the celebrated *bergführer*, orchestrated a near-unprecedentedly rapid Everest ascent with a British contingent – deploying the controversial, and now subject to formal inquiry by Nepalese authorities, xenon gas prophylaxis against altitude sickness; the team's expedition, from their May 16th departure from London to their return a mere six days later following the May 21st summit, was underpinned by acclimatisation regimens involving hypoxic chambers and pre-expedition xenon treatments at a German facility, a methodology Furtenbach defends by invoking the potential for a mitigated environmental footprint, specifically regarding the reduction of anthropogenic waste, whilst maintaining that the xenon administration itself transpired ex situ, enabling him to substantiate its safety profile for alpinists.