• DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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    25 days ago

    Technical question for actual climbers.

    How high up can you go by vehicle and still say you ‘climbed’ the mountain?

    Nobody goes on foot from sea level to the top of the mountain, so at what point does the ascent start?

    • Gobbel2000
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      25 days ago

      The practical answer is: you drive as far as you legally can.

      As a disclaimer, pictured here are the Himalayas, which are at a completely different scale to where I’ve been, but in my experience there are typically parking spaces/bus stops at the end of public roads. At this point you leave the built up infrastructure and enter nature, and these are often located in a place where the flatter valley ends and a steeper ascent begins. In many cases there are smaller private roads further up to service more remote cabins or farmsteads. Sometimes there are even taxi services that drive you further along using private roads, which can be seen as not fully scaling the mountain yourself. Generally, the closest public parking is considered the starting point and most people will therefore start at the same spot.

    • moody@lemmings.world
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      25 days ago

      For Everest in particular, Base Camp 1 is at about 4000m IIRC, and that’s where ascents typically start after some time to acclimate to the already high altitude.

    • /home/pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      25 days ago

      I mean you park the car in the parking lot and then you start at the trailhead. That’s really as far as you’re allowed to drive up, not like you can drive on the hiking trail

    • Butler@lemmynsfw.com
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      25 days ago

      I learned from experience that vehicles lose torque the higher the elevation due to the thinning of oxygen. I think it was something like 30% per kilometer in elevation. That being said I’m sure there’s a level where they can’t drive anymore.

      • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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        25 days ago

        Which begs the question; how do jets fly higher than the mountain tops?

        edit = jet engines have compressors to overcome the difficulty. Car engines don’t

        I should learn to search first.

        • mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca
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          25 days ago

          good for you, learning something that quickly

          at this rate, you’ll be the one to figure out how to solve this problem for helicopters