Episode 58 brings the Duffel Shuffle audience back to the top story from the 2025 Everest Season. While both Sam and Adrian have been skeptical of the use of Xenon Gas that made headlines last season, the two sit down with Garth Miller, a UK-based airline captain and former British Army officer. 

In 2025, Garth was part of a four-person team that pulled off a London-to-London ascent of Everest in just 6.5 days, attributing their success and safety margin to the use of Xenon Gas. The conversation opened Sam and Adrian's own thinking on the substance and hearing the details behind their adventure connected some dots that had been left out in most of the media coverage surrounding their climb. 

• Garth first attempted Everest in 2004, turning back near the Second Step after a failed oxygen system caused repeated panic attacks. He returned in 2022, summiting Everest and Lhotse in a 21-day push

• In 2025 he joined a Furtenbach Adventures expedition with three other former British special forces members, training with 550–650 hours of pre-acclimatization before a single 25-minute Xenon exposure in Germany two weeks out

• The team framed Xenon as a safety tool for its neuroprotective and cardiopulmonary properties, not a performance enhancer, and pushes back on media narratives conflating it with doping

• Garth points out that other altitude aids already in common use — Diamox, dexamethasone — are also WADA-banned substances, complicating the "cheating" framing Xenon received

• They summited together after weathering a serious storm below the South Summit that sent much of their Sherpa team back down, and were caught in a Khumbu Icefall avalanche on the way up

• Garth sees client experience-vetting, not crowding, as the bigger lever for Everest safety, and notes the team raised over $500,000 for veterans' charities including Scotty's Little Soldiers

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The Duffel Shuffle Podcast is supported by Alpenglow Expeditions, an internationally renowned mountain guide service based in Lake Tahoe, California. Visit www.alpenglowexpeditions.com or follow @alpenglowexpeditions on Instagram.

Following a successful Everest expedition in which Adrian successfully reached the summit for the 10th time, Sam and Adrian catch up to cover some of the notable storylines from the season.

While much of the 'action' occurs on the South side of the mountain, a route that Alpenglow does not climb, Adrian has such intimate knowledge of both sides that his perspective is unique. Additionally, between mountain guide gossip and the Sherpa grapevine, a lot if information gets passed without percolating to the mainstream media, some of which we get an inside scoop on in this episode.

Sam and Adrian talk about the following storylines from the 2025 Everest Season:
- Deaths and Rescues: While the 5 fatalities on the south side of the mountain (and zero on the North side) is a relatively low number as compared to recent seasons, rescues and near-misses reached record highs.
- Anja Blancha: One of only two successful no oxygen summits of Everest this season was achieved by the German climber, her 12th of 14 8,000ers without supplemental O2.
- FKT Attempts: Neither Karl Egloff nor Tyler Andrews were successful in reaching the summit of Everest, both of whom set out for Fastest Known Times.
- Xenon Climbers: Arguably the story of the season, Furtenbach Adventures' Flash Ascent of Everest using Xenon Gas was successful, but is Xenon really the future of climbing the tallest peaks around the world?

Follow our podcast on Instagram @duffelshufflepodcast where you can learn more about us and our guests. Visit our website at www.duffelshufflepodcast.com and join our mailing list. The Duffel Shuffle Podcast is supported by Alpenglow Expeditions, an internationally renowned mountain guide service based in Lake Tahoe, California. Visit www.alpenglowexpeditions.com or follow @alpenglowexpeditions on Instagram to learn more.