I pose this question in MPSIMS because any answer will be speculation. Will the day come before man’s extinction when one can ride an elevator to the top of Mt. Everest?
Imagine a pressurized restaurant and a pressurized observation deck along with an open observation deck with supplied oxygen and protective gear. Of course there would have to be a horizontal tunnel connecting to the vertical shaft to the summit. I believe that this would be feasible with today’s technology if someone were willing to spend the time and money. And it would take lots of time and lots and lots of money. The project would be further complicated by the fact that the summit is on an international border. Does anyone want to make a stab at an estimate of the construction costs?
How much would you spend for a single trip (dinner included)? US$100,000? US$1,000,000? More?
The point is to be on top of the highest peak in the world, not to climb it. Everest is not the most difficult or dangerous peak to climb.
I think it will be more likely to be able to reach the top of Mt. Everest by some sort of aircraft or other airborne propulsion before anyone would take the trouble to build an elevator.
I find this concept very depressing in a “paved paradise, put up a parking lot” sort of way.
And the summit isn’t big enough to fit an elevator, let alone tables and chairs: about 1x3 meters. Keep in mind there are sheer vertical drops on two sides.
I’m envisioning something outrageous, a la George Jetson, with a revolving platform atop a projection from the summit. Diners would have tables on the outer edge, allowing a panoramic, 360° view during the dining experience. The dining area would be completely enclosed, pressurized, heated. Diners would wear beautiful evening clothes.
Of course, to safely and securely construct this abomination, the top 500 feet or so of Everest would have to be blasted away. But add hydraulics to enable the dining platform the ability to raise up to “original” Everest elevation.
Do you want to tunnel through the center of Everest to accommodate the elevator, or do you want a Plexiglas surrounded outside escalator to mimic the original climb experience? Do make sure there are adequate, discrete “comfort stops” so the visitors can tend body functions in complete, sanitary privacy.
Folks who suffer the misfortune of expiring on “The Everest Experience” can be assured their Earthly remains will be securely wrapped in a tasteful shroud (choice of National Flags available for a small gratuity) and then expertly “whooshed” to the lowest level Sherpa village via pneumatic tube. Sherpa morticians will be available to help you make the arrangements to send your loved one back home. Or, if so desired, Sherpa morticians can provide burial assistance so your loved one can stay on Everest, where he or she was “doing what he/she loved.”
Everest dining begins at $1,500,000 USD. Reservations are mandatory. Construction is expected to begin in 2045. Investors are welcome to inquire.
Sorry, this will not be a Trump Tower project. There’s already enough shit on that poor mountain.
~VOW
It would probably be cheaper to develop a whole new aircraft that has suitable foul weather capability and construct a platform for it to land on.
A cable car or gondola for normal usage and using current construction methods is probably not up to the job.
This oneis costing 80+ million Euro and that is fairly straightforward in that it start low (800m) and only rises up to 2000m. Sure it is long at around 10km but I reckon you can multiply that cost by a factor of 20 to build anything comparable on the Himalayan plateau and even that would still not be enough to do the job as the distance from base camp to summit is twice the length and three times the height. If it were possible you’d be looking at at least 5 billion and above with a large number of deaths thrown in.
Fuck that. I’m building a bigger and better mountain. And some really gorgeous views will be available from the dining and lounge levels up on the space elevator.
There are some logistical issues even [del]after[/del] if said restaurant is opened.
[ul]
[li]Enough O[sub]2[/sub] for everyone in the case of power failure. On an airplane, they only need enough O[sub]2[/sub] until they can dive the plane to a life-sustaining altitude. How long will it take to evacuate everyone when the restaurant is full? I assume storage space is tight up there.[/li][*]Specially created recipes & cooking times for high-altitude cooking.[/ul]
There are some logistical issues even [del]after[/del] if said restaurant is opened.
[ul]
[li]Enough O[sub]2[/sub] for everyone in the case of power failure. On an airplane, they only need enough O[sub]2[/sub] until they can dive the plane to a life-sustaining altitude. How long will it take to evacuate everyone when the restaurant is full? I assume storage space is tight up there.[/li][li]Specially created recipes & cooking times for high-altitude cooking.[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
Emergency slide. It spirals around the elevator shaft all the way down.
heck, I’d take the slide anyway!
You don’t need high altitude recipes. The restaurant is pressurized.
There’s already a road to Everest on the China side. And it’s not a dirt goat trail either, it’s a full-on asphalt highway (most of the way). You can literally drive right up to base camp (well, you could, but China’s rules dictate you must park at the Rongbuk Monastery and take a bus the rest of the way to Everest).
Looking around a subway in New York cost 2.5 billion per mile. I’d guess its slightly more complicated to build the elevator shaft up Everest so I’d double that cost. That puts us at 11 billion for the vertical shaft. It’s a little hard to tell in Google Maps but it looks like another 2 miles of horizontal tunnel to get from base camp to the vertical shaft but that’s probably only NY prices so 16 billion for the shaft. From what I can tell elevators run about $1,000/ft so the elevator to the top will run $12 million or a rounding error on the shaft. You probably want the restaurant to be small so lets say 49 people or 980 sqft and then another 650 sqft for back of house 1,650 sqft total I’d guess $10,000/sqft due to the hard building conditions and needing to cantilever 1,600 sqft of the building, about 17 feet of cantilever. $16.5 million for the building. Running utilities and stuff probably bring total construction to $12B.
You probably want a 30 year pay back on this project with 9 months a year for people to come that gives you 75,600 people to carry that cost. Before we account for getting food and employees to work we’re looking at $159,000 per person for dinner. I’d probably make it $200,000 per person.
Why would I pay that much to go up 8.85 km in a pressurized capsule when I could pay a couple hundred dollars to go up even higher on a commercial airline? Or go up to 100km altitude for $300,000?
Because the OP is talking about blasting through the mountain, not just adding junk to the surface. There are already fixed lines and ladders (used horizontally for crossing crevasses), so plenty of crap up there already.
Note that while there are cable cars on Alpine mountains, there isn’t one to the summit of the Matterhorn. There are already cable cars on some Himalayan mountains. So be it.
Everest is impressive on its own, in part because it’s not easily accessible. Why not turn Niagara Falls into water slides? Construct a suspended amusement park over the Grand Canyon? Build a spa around Old Faithful? Sure, all these squillion-dollar projects would require massive engineering feats, but isn’t that the whole point of natural wonders? :rolleyes:
I’m reminded of a sci-fi story about a climber ascending a mountain on a planet (possibly Mars) only to find that it was actually a huge spaceship covered by the ages.
If I was that “fuck you rich” to throw away that much money, I’d sooner spend it on a trip to the moon, or mars for dinner. Or even just to go float in space while eating.
