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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115

u/foxywoef Jul 09 '25

I don't think helicopters can operate at 8km altitude

125

u/captain-_-clutch Jul 09 '25

They do helicopter tours to the base camp and some dude landed on the peak once. Better chance of hopping out there than trying to hike up.

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u/foxywoef Jul 09 '25

I stand corrected. In that case our Ethan just need to be experienced at flying planes (to get to tibet) and helicopters. I don't think it would be possible for him to learn that if he doesn't have prior experience though.

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u/captain-_-clutch Jul 09 '25

Boat across the ocean then helicopter around. Both of those you can get some experience without risking immediate death. Still dangerous but you can work your way into it over a few years. With enough books and videos plane is probably possible but meh. Also it's probably not feasible to find instructional dvds for the planes.

Helicopter and boat will have info on board to get them started and you can learn from there.

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u/forever_a-hole Jul 09 '25

Learning helicopter from scratch with no one to teach seems way more dangerous and difficult than a plane. But I can’t do either and don’t know anything about flight other than playing Microsoft Flight Simulator a few times.

60

u/27Rench27 Jul 10 '25

One of my friends learned to fly helos a couple years ago. During his first sessions, he was telling me how hard it was just to hover 20ft off the ground without drifting in one direction or another

Ethan would kill himself long before he got good enough to fly to an Everest base camp lol

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u/chinggisk Jul 10 '25

Yeah people in this thread are way underestimating how difficult it is to fly helicopters lol

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u/captain-_-clutch Jul 10 '25

Didn't say it was easy, but it takes 50 flight hours for a helicopter license, 150 for a commerical license. Since he has no one to teach him outside of books let's go ahead and times that by 10. 500-1500 hours of hovering off the ground and he'll get the hang of it. He has nothing but time and resources.

3

u/Nydus87 Jul 10 '25

The resources aren't actually all that unlimited. What's the maintenance schedule like for those helicopters? Would Ethan be able to identify which helicopter in the hangar had been fully maintained and which one was suffering from acute loose bolt syndrome? The more delicate the machinery, the more important it is for it to be maintained, even if it's just sitting there.

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u/Nago31 Jul 10 '25

How’s he gonna refuel that helicopter he’s learning on? Will those gas pumps keep working without power? Or the gas in those pumps kept from expiring?

I think Ethan is boned. One person just can’t do all the jobs necessary to get across the ocean and to the top of the mountain.

6

u/RelevantBet4676 Jul 10 '25

Planes/helos are usually filled by a tanker style truck with quick connects in my experience, so the “pumps” are powered from the truck. As a ex helicopter mechanic for the USAF for a while, I can tell you it’s easier than you think to hook up and fuel a helicopter. If I was Ethan I would go to a big airfield or military base to practice, plenty of room to hover and plenty of fuel to burn through and practice with.

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u/foxywoef Jul 10 '25

Boat probably has a higher chance of mechanical issues. And the longer Ethan takes to get to Tibet the more infrastructure will degrade

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u/Seth_Baker Jul 10 '25

I wouldn't trust helicopter fuel after a few years.

2

u/Kennaham Jul 10 '25

worked on military helicopters. we keep a step-by-step how to manual in the cockpit of all our aircraft. i have full confidence ethan could start a helicopter. how good he is at flying depends on how good he is with a game controller and video games. i'm more concerned about other environmental issues for him tho once the power goes out

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u/foxywoef Jul 10 '25

Wouldn’t it be very difficult flying/landing at those attitudes? Another comment said there are unpredictable gusts at that height

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u/Kennaham Jul 10 '25

that's true, but if i were ethan i would simply fly a lot of the way up the mountain, not quite to the peak. i'm also a hiker tho so idk how far ethan's abilities will get him if he's say, 2/3 of the way up the mountain by helicopter

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u/foxywoef Jul 10 '25

Something like that is probably most via le, he should have enough left over supplies. But anyway biggest point is that 'random person' defo doesn't make it

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u/clayalien Jul 10 '25

key empasis on once. Helicopters can fly at that altitude, but the thinner air makes controlling and manouvering considerably more difficult. And helicopters all ready take considerable skill to fly, even in ideal conditions. The controlles are quite unintutive and it constantly wants to whril off uncontrolled. Usually learners will have a dual control system with an experienced instructor who can give expert advice and stop things going too far out of control, but on your own, it's one mistake from a twisted pile of burning metal.

I think they'd have a better chance just walking.

1

u/captain-_-clutch Jul 10 '25

He doesn't technically need to land it 😂

Beyond zero chance walking. Sherpas have generations of knowledge and still die sometimes

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u/EnumeratedArray Jul 11 '25

Technically they can buy it's very risky, difficult, bad for the heli, and almost never worth it. I think a Heli has gone all the way to the top to prove it's possible once, but I doubt it ever would again