Xenon for mountain climbing?

Via the New York Times: 

Climbing Mount Everest typically takes weeks, with most of that time spent at the foot of the mountain adjusting to the thin air. But four British men last week shrank that timeline dramatically, traveling from London to the summit and back in less than a week, according to the organizer of their expedition.

They skipped the adjustment period, in part, by inhaling a secret weapon: xenon gas.

Their feat has roiled the world of mountaineering and prompted an investigation by the Nepalese government, as use of the gas is fiercely debated. Some research has shown that xenon can quickly acclimatize people to high altitudes, even as some experts say the benefits, if any, are negligible and the side effects of its use remain unclear.

Organizers said the gas was key to the speed of the climb, but their approach has prompted a broader debate that strikes at the core of mountaineering: Should scaling Mount Everest, one of sporting’s greatest accomplishments, be made easier — available to more people during a quick vacation — with the help of a performance enhancer?

Xenon, an odorless gas, has been known for years to activate a molecule called the hypoxia-inducible factor, which is also turned on when people acclimate to low oxygen, said Hugh Montgomery, a professor of intensive care medicine at University College London and a mountaineer who led an expedition to Mount Everest to study how humans respond to low oxygen.

“So what these people claim to have done,” he said, “is basically found a way to switch on the adaptation to low oxygen levels.”

The group took what was known from medical science, he said, “and have now applied it, recreationally, to sport mountaineering.”

Professor Montgomery said scientists were still unsure how xenon triggers this response.

This is pretty wild. I don't think this will change much of society (other than elite mountaineering) but I am curious if this will ultimately find applications in military scenarios.