As i understand it, the trouble with the Martian "mountains" is that, while some are very tall, they are typically also very wide, so they are less like mountains as we think of them, and more like slightly pointy plateaus. Check out the diameters in this list:
Part of the problem of comparison is the smaller diameter of Mars. Olympus Mons has such shallow slopes (~5°) that from the top you can only see the slope of the mountain itself, as everything else is below the horizon. https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/25960/is-the-c...
However, Olympus Mons has a very definite edge most of the way around, formed by escarpments up to 8km tall, that you'd have to get up before you get to the gentle slope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons
"Even though the surface gravity on Mars is only 3.7 meters/sec (compared to 9.8 meters/sec on Earth), the thin atmosphere means that the average terminal velocity hits a nail-biting 1,000 km/hour or so, compared to about 200 km/hour back home."
-for those wondering if 1/3 gravity could make the fall not as dangerous. ....although I suppose you might have more of time at the beginning to stop your descent by grabbing onto something maybe
You would likely enjoy the red Mars book series by Kim Stanley Robinson. One of the scientist kind of abandons her duties to just explore Mars in a rover!
Just looked it up, seems awesome. I'm almost done with what I'm currently reading, so I will pick this up next. Do you have any other recommendations? I've been looking for more stuff like this (futurist, adventure, sci-fi, not cheesy), but just haven't been able to find the right one.
Yeah it’s great! New York 2142 by the same author was the first one I read and it was amazing. It’s nyc post global warming where everything is flooded. Interesting setting and adventure/business drama stuff.
I've lived in the same small town as Mr. Robinson for over a decade, despite that he's a bit of a local celebrity, I've never ever run into him. I was sure I'd see him at the Delta of Venus cafe....it seemed so reminiscent of some of the communities in the series, I was sure that there was some inspiration coming from some of the local Davis oddities.
I definitely recommend the series. Excellent excellent series. Coincidentally, I was out tonight at a used book store and I found and bought a copy of Red Mars (Book 1) to replace my lost copy. Ha!
Although Mars is probably the ultimate "because it's there", nature cannot be fooled - Everest has effectively been commercialised now, but the other 8kms like K2 regularly eat extremely experienced mountaineers for breakfast.
Ah! Just a few days ago I wrote an article about what it would be like to climb on Mars! I learned about Olympus Mons in the process. It turns out that the surface area is equal to that of Italy's. There are a few interesting features like cliffs and craters, but you can probably just get around it.
