I once wondered if it would be more environmentally friendly to bore straight down into a mountain and then build a mile high building on the peak to create a giant rail gun. Then shoot raw materials into orbit where the actual manufacture takes place. Sadly there is too much atmosphere no matter how much I want a cannon to the moon.
This actually is a proposed idea. To launch enough satellite shields to slow down global warming. The proposal isn’t straight down but rather diagonal, increasing the length and aiming it at the right angle & velocity for orbit
At first I thought it was simply science fiction, but it’s fairly ingenious from a price point. If the physics work of course
Starting at the top of Everest (even if it were at the equator) only gives you a 0.02% head start.