, Columnist
China Tries to Conquer Everest
A bold plan to commercialize the world's tallest peak.
Needs more restaurants.
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China has big plans for Mount Everest. Although the south-facing side of the mountain, in Nepal, might be better known, the Tibetan north face also has a rich mountaineering history, and China has outlined an ambitious new vision for commercializing it. That may sound like an unseemly approach to the world's tallest and most forbidding peak. But on balance, it will actually be a good thing.
Earlier this year, China opened a new paved road that winds 14,000 feet up the slope and stops at the base camp parking lot. Plans are in the works to build an international mountaineering center, complete with hotels, restaurants, training facilities, and search-and-rescue services. There will even be a museum.