r/whowouldwin • u/ThePriestofVaranasi • Jul 09 '25

Challenge Every human on Earth vanishes, except for one random person in the US. A button is placed on the summit of Mount Everest that can be pressed to undo this change. Can humanity be restored?

Every human on Earth vanishes without a trace, except for one random survivor: Ethan from the United States. Moments after the disappearance, a mysterious device materializes before him, displaying a message:
"Humanity can be restored. To activate revival, you must press the button housed at the highest point on Earth—the summit of Mount Everest."

Ethan essentially has as much of a prep time as he wants to gather all the essentials like food, water, weapons, vehicles and everything else that has been suddenly abandoned. He can raid supermarkets, libraries, military depots, and pharmacies for supplies. Ethan can still die of old age so this prep time isn't unlimited.

Now, Ethan faces an impossible gauntlet:
He must travel to Nepal and ascend to the summit of Mount Everest without dying.

Can Ethan survive long enough to reach the button and restore humanity?

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u/Temporary-Sea-4782 Jul 09 '25

Entropy and things come into play, but I’m voting for the Ethan. He has years to prep and study. Canned food will be salvageable for quite some time. Bro can read as he travels. I would recommend crossing the pacific at Bering Strait. Will gain some experience in Canadian Rockies along the way.

Pray, you bastards, that I am this f’in Ethan, because I would raid libraries and bookstores along the way, and dedicate a period of time daily to reading climbing magazines, and Everest travelogues. By the time I reached it, likely months later, I would know the map, the routes, logistics, etc.

Ethan might have to wait a year for ideal weather and conditions, perhaps even doing a partial ascent every year for a couple years and staging gear, etc. By the time this guy tries to summit, he is as skilled a mountaineer as anybody could have been prior to the snap.

All in all, I think this is more of a question of patience and persistence than difficulty.

22

u/NorthDakota Jul 09 '25

I think injury stops ethan (or you). Walk 100 miles and look at your feet. That will more than likely be a task Ethan will have to do many times over.

But aside from that, any number of medical issues will be a show stopper for him without medical professionals. And given the extreme nature of the physical tasks he will have to embark on to reach his goal I think the chances of him being injured in a way that prevents him from doing it is too high.

No weather forecasting either, weather could easily take him out and has a high likelihood to I think given the locations he will have to travel through.

10

u/Temporary-Sea-4782 Jul 09 '25

Gasoline and other petroleum products eventually go bad, and the decay of machine parts will happen over time, but if the other humans just blinked away, there is still probably a years worth of free rides out there. Lots of boots available to steal for some time. I think hypothetical human hero does need to make conditioning for the task part of his lifestyle. Mormon brigade walked deep into and out of Mexico back in the 1848 war.

Medical? Ethan is an American, he couldn’t afford health care to start with, nothing changes.

You have a good point about weather forecasting. I think that gets much more important when he gets to Everest area. Say a year or so in, he might have some level of knowledge from mountaineering study, and living in post apocalyptic environment, but I think yes, you nailed the wild card in all of this.

1

u/BBQ_HaX0r Jul 10 '25

Yeah I'm shocked at how pessimistic people are in this thread. It's definitely a challenge, but I definitely feel like it's possible. The motivating factor of hitting that button would be enormous. The person would push through so much. I don't know, I think it's a good chance assuming its a reasonably fit youngers person. As someone with Everest aspirations and have done some pretty big mountains I cannot guarantee I would succeed, but I'd like to think I would. Maybe I'm being delusional a bit, but to see your loved ones again? C'mon... Nothing is stopping you from.