Everest Highway Going Nowhere Fast

The Chinese government has seen sense and decided not to run a tarmac highway halfway up Mount Everest.

The road, replacing an older dirt track, was to have reached 17,000 ft up the world’s tallest mountain. The authorities had argued that the road was necessary in order to allow the Olympic Torch procession to reach the summit of the mountain in 2012.

However, scientists were concerned about the environmental impact of the road. The ecosystem on the mountain is already fragile, with glaciers receding at an alarming rate. The road would also have ruined one of the world’s most spectacular landscapes.