Many people climb to the peak of Mount Everest every year (in fact many don't make it back down).
Some of the hikers do it because it's a goal as a mountain climber.
But occasionally there are some just enjoy amazingly beautiful views and seek these views for everything they have. For the second group of people, ballooning to the top would be a much better option.
Because of the height, there is not enough air for helicopters or hot-air balloons to successfully operate. But helium balloons carrying passengers have been brought to the edge of space itself!
A helium balloon could, theoretically, be used to reach the top of Mount Everest in a day.-- thejehosephat, Jan 14 2011 "The Man on Top" http://www.bretnor.com/ManOnTop.htmlSimilar philosophy. [gisho, Jan 14 2011] //there is not enough air for helicopters// http://www.greatout...erest-makes-history [pocmloc, Jan 14 2011] Rather inclusive, but National_20Geographic*_20Hotel_20Chain [FlyingToaster, Jan 14 2011] claims of fake http://news.bbc.co....th_asia/4152854.stm [pocmloc, Jan 14 2011] Finally, a place vaguely appropriate for me to post this link http://godheadv.blo..._04_01_archive.htmlCaution - interesting images of dead people and not quite so dead people on Everest [normzone, Jan 15 2011] Were I ever in the Himalayas and this tour option available, I would absolutely take advantage of it.
I am reminded of a lovely short story. [linky]-- gisho, Jan 14 2011 Well, yes. But if you're up in the balloon anyway, why is the view better from Mount Everest? Why not just pick somewhere nice and go up to the same altitude? In which case, why not look out the window of the next commercial flight you find yourself on?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 14 2011 Also, while we're on the topic, have any groups of mountaineers, keen to surpass others, formed a human pyramid on top of Mount Everest?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 14 2011 Let's build a tower up there!-- Voice, Jan 14 2011 Gotcha covered <link>.-- FlyingToaster, Jan 14 2011 Looks like I've been corrected on the helicopter aspect of this idea! I had no idea-- thejehosephat, Jan 14 2011 //I had no idea// well, yes you did, because you posted it! welcome to the halfbakery, this being your first post and all!-- xandram, Jan 14 2011 Yes Hello and Welcome! I like the idea of ballooning up there but I fear for the weather - isn't it awful windy a lot of the time? I would like to holiday, though, in the Everest Summit Hotel, with the courtesy balloon ferrying guests up and down to base camp.-- pocmloc, Jan 14 2011 //Or a mine.//
Tunnel horizontally into the base of the mountain until you're exactly below the summit, then build a lift shaft.-- Wrongfellow, Jan 15 2011 I don't think this is much of an idea really. Use an existing mode of transport to get to a place that's hard to reach on foot. You could say the same for polar expeditions.
Also, I don't think it would work due to the wind. I would imagine the max speed of an airship is less than the average wind speed. Even on a calm day, I don't know what the range of an airship is either.-- marklar, Jan 15 2011 //Please learn to search before posting.//
I'm not sure why you would say this... I thought about this the other day and realized it would work here because "The halfbakery is a communal database of poorly thought-out ideas for inventions." :P-- thejehosephat, Jan 15 2011 Welcome to the halfbakery, [thejehosephat].
From the help file:
"Ideas for inventions for the halfbakery should be original to the poster and should, as far as the poster knows, not exist already. (Use search engines to check whether or not what you're about to invent already exists.)"
That being said, when you get to know [21] you'll understand why he said this.-- normzone, Jan 15 2011 and as is also customary for a newbie... [marked-for-deletion] redundant <link>
//a communal database of poorly thought-out ideas for inventions// "Think of it as a spell checker that insults you, as well."-- FlyingToaster, Jan 15 2011 [marked-for-retention] links are too cool.Nice one [gisho]
//Because of the height, there is not enough air for helicopters or hot-air balloons to successfully operate//Well the helicpoter bit may be debunked for now but as for hot air balloons;
The "Spirit of Piccard" made a successful flight on 22 June 2003. Launch was at approximately 9:00 AM local time in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and the balloon and payload landed outside of Bellefontaine, Ohio, a few minutes after 5:00 PM that afternoon. From the post-flight data analysis we believe that the balloon ultimately reached a maximum altitude of approximately 49,000 feet.
,thats 14 935.2 meters, Everest's peak is thought to be 8848 meters or 29,029 ft so hot air balloons aren't bust.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 15 2011 Why helium ? Hrdrogen is much, much ceaper, very plentiful, and rigid airships can be very safe.
There is no reason why a mooring mast for dirigibles could not be constructed on the top of Everest, allowing fat Americans to visit with ease.-- 8th of 7, Jan 15 2011 //Why helium ? Hrdrogen is much, much ceaper, very plentiful, and rigid airships can be very safe.//
I guess the Hindenburg disaster just scares me away from using Hydrogen... :P-- thejehosephat, Jan 15 2011 My brother is a helicopter pilot. Performance wise there are helicopters that can make the height no problem. The issue is mountains create huge wind shears and gusts that will slam you into the side of a mountain before you can react. It's dangerous and hard to control a helicopter in a mountain range. especially everest.
The hardest part would be taking off, helicopters can hit 20,000 feet but they could never take off from those heights and have minimal stability.-- metarinka, Jan 15 2011 // Hindenburg disaster //
There is substantial evidence that sabotage was responsibe. Zeppelin airships flew many millions of pasenger-miles without incident or accident.
Many large civil aircraft have suffered much worse failures in terms of casualties, and have inferior safety records.
We assert that transporting large numbers of fat Americans to the top of Everest, where they will rapidly expire from anoxia, is worth the risk.-- 8th of 7, Jan 15 2011 Back off, [21Q], you're running the risk of not causing the death of large numbers of overweight American tourists.
Oh, and whoever sells them those brightly-coloured shirts and shorts should also be found guilty of something, and summarily executed. It doesn't matter what, just as long as it carries the Death penalty.-- 8th of 7, Jan 15 2011 Ok, we'll go with that, but are you still up for the summary execution of the the clothing vendors ?-- 8th of 7, Jan 15 2011 // Golf, as we know it, is long overdue for an ending //
Golf, in any form, is long overdue for an ending - except for the specific variation played on the surface of your planet's moon, without the benefit of environment suits, life support of any form, or a return ticket.-- 8th of 7, Jan 15 2011 No, even that. I live in St Andrews; I see the golfers. Enough.-- pocmloc, Jan 15 2011 random, halfbakery