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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74

u/Acora ​ Jul 09 '25

I don't see any possible way. Assuming Ethan is about as skilled and fit as your average Everest climber (which would put him massively above the average American in terms of experience and fitness), he would still need approximately 12 - 24 months to prepare for the climb, and then would need to get there. In 12 to 24 months, all perishable food will have expired, power would have failed across the world, most gasoline would likely have gone bad, and airports would have started to overgrow to the point of unusability.

After this, Ethan will somehow need to figure out how to fuel and fly an airplane 8000 miles with absolutely not guidance from the ground, no weather forecasts, no assistance landing, no assistance getting to Everest, and no assistance climbing it. The closest airport to Everest is currently considered the most dangerous airports in the world due to a short runway, sharp incline, and cliffs on both ends, and it certainly isn't going to get less dangerous in the intervening year(s). If he chooses to fly to any other airport in Nepal, he'll need to figure out a way to travel to Everest from there, with several of the airports not being directly connected to Everest by roads.

Assuming Ethan is even a person capable of climbing Everest solo (which statistically, he won't be), he's likely not also someone who can maintain, refuel, and pilot a plane for a safe touchdown to the most dangerous airport in the world.

Humanity is doomed.

33

u/poopoopooyttgv Jul 09 '25

The hardest part of flying a plane is landing. He could jump out of the plane and let it crash, wouldn’t even need to worry about killing someone with it either

I wonder if crashing a plane/drone into the button counts as pressing it. Break into a military base, crash a predator drone into it

7

u/Acora ​ Jul 10 '25

Please explain to me how an untrained person who is going to lose access to the internet in a few days is going to refuel, maintain, and take off in a plane and then navigate to Everest in said plane with no air traffic control or satnav.

2

u/djangoMRJB Jul 10 '25

I was thinking about this too but hows he getting down from Everest hahaha when he jumps he’d need to be extremely accurate and be able to bring a load of gear with him, properly dressed for the extreme conditions then he has to descend Everest. Would need a load of oxygen in that gear too. Then he also isnt acclimatised at all, body could start shutting down really fucking quick. Drone idea is much better hahaha

1

u/poopoopooyttgv Jul 10 '25

Yeah I don’t think jumping and landing on Everest is realistic. But he could take a plane to the base of Everest

1

u/Acora ​ Jul 10 '25

An untrained pilot is absolutely not flying a plane safely to the base of Everest, least of all without any sort of guidance from air traffic control.

1

u/MortLightstone Jul 11 '25

I have a feeling flying an airplane would be easier than sailing across the Atlantic. But then again, I have flown before and I can't swim, so I may be biased

2

u/Acora ​ Jul 11 '25

Either way, navigation is going to be incredibly difficult. You get one degree off from your heading and you're going to end up hundreds of miles off course.

1

u/MortLightstone Jul 11 '25

That's true, but as long as you've crossed the ocean, you can find your way through land

1

u/Acora ​ Jul 11 '25

Without GPS, a guide, or maps? I highly doubt anyone's ability to navigate several hundred miles to Everest.

1

u/ancientestKnollys Jul 11 '25

Head in the general direction of India, then to Nepal and you should find it sooner or later.

1

u/Acora ​ Jul 11 '25

Apart from just "South", how do you 'head in the general of India' if you end up "somewhere in eastern Europe/Northern Asia"?

1

u/ancientestKnollys Jul 11 '25

If you were in Eastern Europe you could probably follow the roadsigns all the way through the Balkans, Turkey, Iran and India

1

u/Acora ​ Jul 11 '25

Assuming you can read Cyrillic, Polish, Czech, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Serb-Croatian, Romanian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Serbian, Albanian, Armenian, Latvian, Estonian, Macedonian, Turkish, Persian, Hindi, and Nepali, of course.

1

u/MortLightstone Jul 11 '25

Who said he doesn't have a map? He can just go and get a map. Plus no one said the GPS satellites aren't still in orbit. He can definitely use a dedicated GPS device

1

u/Acora ​ Jul 11 '25

I am assuming no map because I personally can't think of a location where I'm certain I could find a map of the entirety of Europe that is detailed enough that I could navigate, by foot, the several hundred miles between whatever spot in Europe I land and Mount Everest.

The GPS satellites might be still in orbit, but the accuracy of their information is going to be heavily questionable. They are currently tracked by ground stations to determine their exact orbit and location, with this information being transmitted to the satellites themselves for GPS purposes. This information is crucial to accurate positioning. Without any humans, the satellites won't receive these updates, so their accuracy becomes circumspect at best.

Even if Ethan is lucky enough to get accurate info from satellites, he'll need a device to receive the positioning info, and with the entire electrical grid shut down likely within weeks of everyone disappearing, he will struggle to locate devices, will likely be unable to charge the device, and certainly won't be able to conduct any software or firmware updates that modern devices typically require.

0

u/MortLightstone Jul 11 '25

You're assuming he's way of course, but somehow in Europe? Finding a map of Europe should be easier, actually. Some bookstores still sell maps. But if not, public libraries will have atlases you can get to. As for the devices, I think you're assuming I meant a cell phone or something, but there are standalone gps devices used to navigate in the wilderness during hiking and stuff. Those can be battery powered and you can use alkalines you get from a store. You can also use a solar panel to charge them, or some sort of wind up emergency phone charger

Honestly, finding a map and compass is pretty easy if you know where to look. Most young people don't nowadays, I guess, though

1

u/Acora ​ Jul 11 '25

I'm assuming that, for an entirely untrained pilot (which the average American would be), without any sort of assistance from a copilot, air traffic control, or the internet, will almost certainly not set a flight heading perfectly. Assuming he's on the east US Coast (the most generous assumption for location as far as flying to Mount Everest), he's roughly 8500 miles away as the crow flies.

As mentioned above, it is very unlikely that an untrained pilot without any assistance will set a perfect heading. If his heading is off by even a single degree, he will end up approximately 140 miles off track with no real way to know this because, again, he will not have any support from air traffic control. Ending up somewhere in Eastern Europe (which was being used as an example; he is just as likely to end up somewhere in Africa, Northern Asia, or the middle of the Indian Ocean) is more likely than him setting a perfect heading, and both are less likely than him being unable to maintain, fuel, or pilot a plane with no assistance in the first place.

The issue regarding the map isn't that maps are hard to find or that "young people nowadays" don't know how to look for one. It's that he'd need a map that is both expansive enough to show both the area he starts and his ultimate destination, detailed enough for him to determine exactly where he has landed (Because, again, he's going to likely end up hundreds of miles off course), and serendipitous enough for him to actually include the random spot that he's landed in, which he cannot plan for due to the chance for error in setting his heading.

Yes, I'm aware that there are standalone GPS devices. These often still need an initial setup and a firmware update before use, which won't be possible without any sort of cellular or internet service.

And none of that accounts for the fact that, without the on-the-ground tracking that currently allows for accurate tracking of and reporting to GPS satellites, there is no way to ensure that they'll actually report accurate information to him.

0

u/MortLightstone Jul 12 '25

They have these books called atlases that have maps of the whole planet in them. There's even some that specialize in specific countries that will have all the roads listed and even zoomed in maps for dense urban areas. These are naturally easier to find in the country in question itself

And no, a standalone gps device doesn't require a cell signal, because it's not a cell phone. It tracks and receives signals from satellites

Plus Ethan can just take one from a hiker, in which case there's no updates needed. Though I can't see how a device would lock itself and demand an update if it has no signal telling it it needs one in the first place

Also, it would take some time for Internet servers to go offline so things should still be updatable for a bit

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