The summit of the Chimborazo is the fixed point on Earth which has the utmost distance from the center – because of the modified ball shape of the planet Earth which is “thicker” around the Equator than measured around the poles.[note 3] Chimborazo is one degree south of the Equator and the Earth’s diameter at the Equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest (8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level), nearly 28° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being 2,580 m (8,465 ft) lower in elevation above sea level, it is 6,384.4 km (3,967.1 mi) from the Earth’s centre, 2,168 m (7,113 ft) or 2.168 km (1.347 mi) farther than the summit of Everest (6,382.3 km (3,965.8 mi) from the Earth’s center).[note 4] However, by the criterion of elevation above sea level, Chimborazo is not even the highest peak of the Andes.

Imagine that! Link -via reddit

Filmmaker Terje Sorgjerd (previously at Neatorama) set up cameras on El Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, from April 4th to 11th, 2011. The object was to take a time-lapse video of the Milky Way. However, a sand storm blew in from the Sahara desert. Sorgjerd assumed his project had been ruined, but was pleased with the resulting video. -via the Presurfer

These are the Ha’iku Stairs on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. They were first built as a ladder to reach the top of the ridge during World War II, when a radio transmitter was installed on the top of the hill. Later the wood was replaced with metal steps, 3,922 of them! The stairs are now closed to the public, but hikers still risk trespassing charges to try them out. See more pictures at Atlas Obscura. Link

Zach Anner presents part two of his look at Austin, Texas, in which he scales Mt. Bonnell (so to speak). See part one also. -via Gorilla Mask

Previously: Zach’s Audition and Thank You.

A Peruvian inventor named Eduardo Gold has got an idea – brilliant to some, daft to others – that may just work to "regrow" the glaciers. He’s painting the mountain top white:

Four men from Licapa, the village which lies further down the valley, don boiler suits and mix the paint from three simple and environmentally-friendly ingredients: lime, industrial egg white and water. The mixture which has been used since Peru’s colonial times.

There are no paint brushes, the workers use jugs to splash the whitewash onto the loose rocks around the summit. It is a laborious process but they have whitewashed two hectares in two weeks. They plan is to paint the whole summit, then in due course, two other peaks totalling overall some 70 hectares.

Mr Gold may not be a scientist but his idea is based on the simple scientific principle that when sunlight is reflected off a white or light-coloured surface, solar energy passes back through the atmosphere and out into space, rather than warming the Earth’s surface.

The US Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, has endorsed a similar idea using white roofs in the United States – possibly more pragmatic than painting mountains.

Changing the albedo (a measure of how strongly an object reflects light) of the rock surface, would bring about a cooling of the peak’s surface, says Mr Gold, which in turn would generate a cold micro-climate around the peak.

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Zebra is a Painted Donkey

Have you ever wondered what happens to the corpses of the fallen on the upper slopes of Everest? Sometimes they move or are buried by snow, but often they are anchored in place – chilling monuments to their own demise.

One climber in particular was abandoned by her party when it became clear they could not save her – and she has been visible to passers by ever since, including fellow climbers who came back following years and could still see her as they made their way up the slopes. However, one such climber is returning to bury the dead as best he can.

There’s an enormous lack of dignity in her circumstances. It’s almost like a road sign on the mountain – when you get to Fran, turn left. That’s not good for anybody.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Urbanist.