And a waffle hut. Gotta have a waffle hut.
I’m a civil engineer (MSc) and before I went into business consulting I worked three years in construction engineering building highways for a major construction company. I’m not an expert on the matter but I will tell you that it is very possible to build a gondola to the summit or at least close to the summit but it will come at a hefty price tag. The region does not have sufficient infrastructure which means paved roads need to be built. There would also be a high cost for material and skilled workers because of the remoteness and technicality. You have to recruit workers abroad and finding such workers will not only be expensive but also difficult. In the end it would be considerably more expensive than any gondola ever built. We don’t just talk about the construction of the lift. It is the easy part. When you build something (anything really) you naturally change the environment. I would guess you need explosives and build additional paths up the mountain so construction can be done smoothly and safe. There have been discussions of making a few fixed stairs at the Hillary Step (I believe) and people were critical of such move because it would alter the mountain. Environmentalists wouldn’t be happy nor would the climbers if a corporation built a gondola to increase tourism. What you can do (and for much less) is to build permanent bases on strategically located around and up the mountain and built secure trails. It would cost much less and make Mt. Everest easier to climb. I would guess it would also lower the number of accidents. Of course it would lead to protests. When it comes to transportation with helicopters it is very possible to fly well beyond the height of Mt Everest. The record was actually set 43 years ago when a French pilot flew 40,814 feet. The reason why most helicopters are not able to fly beyond 15,000 feet is because there is little commercial use for such helicopters not because of technical reasons. Before we even would see a lift to the summit I would guess we would see hotels around the mountain and more commercialization.
I’m sorry to see this thread is back. I’ve still got stains in my boxers from shitting myself laughing the first time around.
A bunch of extension cords connected together?
Overpowered rocket sled going up, flies off the peak. Then parachute down.
Just hack out a stairway all the way up.
I wasn’t aware that I’d even replied to this thread, but this is the most sensible suggestion in it so far. I think I’m going to start collecting extension cords so I can corner the market.
Build a platform at the peak, 10 feet higher than anyone can climb without it. Charge a hundred gand so users can get to the NEW highest place on earth. And another platform for it where the rich can pay to build it even higher, say a million dollsrs a foot.
ProTip: Tie the ends before connecting them to keep them from pulling apart!
If we could just get it declared “Mount Everest Bi-National Park” that problem would be solved…
How is a dead Everest climber like a sofa with bad springs?
Recovering won’t do either any good.
Welcome and thank you for the information. There has been a bit of discussion on this topic in this forum.
Yuichiro Miura from Japan tried to ski down Everest in 1970. Six of his teammates died, and he only skied/slid/fell a bit over four-thousand feet before he came to a stop shortly above a crevasse. For three million bucks he must have got his money’s worth, for since then he keeps climbing Everest again and again and again – the most recent time a couple of years ago at age 80. Sooner or later, he’s going to need a ski lift to make it to the top, but given that his dad skied until well over 100, Yuichiro may not need a ski lift on Everest for a while yet.
Here’s his documentary “[The Man who skied down Everest](The Man who skied down Everest)” which gets interesting an hour and fourteen minutes in. Unfortunately, although he gets an A for effort, he did not have the ability to ski the slope (he could not control his turns and could not control his speed), and he did not have the equipment to perform a self-arrest (no ice axe or alternately a self-arrest ski pole – a combination pole and ice axe), resulting in his being just another woahfuck – in this case one who parachuted down the slope. Even then he had the wrong type of parachute, for rather than using one that could be controlled to permit skiing, he used one that could only reduce his speed, similar to a dragster’s 'chute. Why he wore ski straps is beyond me.
That being said, back then he was a man before his time, for these days speedriding (combined skiing and paragliding) is the rage. I wonder if he has tried it?
Probably about time to change them.
Modern technology can take us far and seldom the limit. The limit is often politics. Do we really want Himalayas be as commercialized as the Rockies, Alps or the Scandinavian mountains? In my opinion I think it would serve not only the region but Nepal, Pakistan, India, China (Tibet) and Bhutan. I wouldn’t go so far to build a gondola to the summit of Mount Everest. What I would do is to make the region friendlier for tourism. Tourism does alter the environment but also encourage government to protect the environment so the incentive for tourism continues. The Rockies, Alps or the Scandinavian mountains are still beautiful mountain ranges and a sense of wilderness although they are commercialized and hold many resorts. Economic activity is often a good thing. I think the OP had it in mind. Create incentives for more tourism and therefore create more opportunities for the native population.
Honestly, the ‘tunnel an elevator through the mountain’ option is starting to look easier at this point.
Why not just send a few guys with shovels and some empty sacks up to the top.
Clear away the snow.
Shovel the top 3-4 inches off the summit. Put in sacks. Throw sacks down the mountain for later retrieval.
Open ‘Everest World’. Charge people $1,000 to ‘Stand On The Only Authenticated Top Of Everest’.
Profit.
Cost estimate of Everest chairlift by an outfit in Kansas. Looks like it would only work indoors and for very short distances.
You guys are thinking too small, or, if you will, too tall. (Although Wallaby is on the right track)
The dead zone is because Everest is so damn tall. Make it less tall - no more dead zone! Not sure how much we’d need to shorten it - probably like down to 26000 ft.,which is a lot I think. Also not sure exactly how we’d do it: I’m more of an ideas guy. A gang of dwarves with pickaxes singing “hei ho” on the way up the hill is conceptually interesting, but probably out because not even remotely feasible. Maybe we finally get to nuke something from orbit. I’d watch that on TV if football isn’t on.
Taking material off the top is too difficult and expensive, they need to take it off the bottom. What you do is get a really big gun and shoot the bottom of the mountain. It will essentially erase the bottom of the mountain corresponding to the height of the bullet and the rest of the mountain will fall in place.
However, whatever you do, do not combine the ideas and use a gang of dwarves to tunnel into the base of the mountain. It’s been tried before and ended badly.