A mountain climber starts a climb at an elevation of 453 feet above sea level. At his first rest stop he has climbed 162 feet, and by his second rest stop he has climbed another 207 feet.

Question

It's getting late in the day, so the climber starts his way down. If the climber descends 285 feet, how much does he need to ascend or descend to return to the original starting point?

Answer 1

To find out how much the mountain climber needs to ascend or descend to return to the original starting point, we first need to determine his elevation at each stop, and then calculate the difference from his starting elevation.

1. Starting elevation: 453 feet above sea level.

2. First rest stop: He climbs 162 feet. \[ 453 + 162 = 615 \text{ feet} \]

3. Second rest stop: He climbs another 207 feet. \[ 615 + 207 = 822 \text{ feet} \]

4. Descent: He then descends 285 feet. \[ 822 - 285 = 537 \text{ feet} \]

Now, the climber is currently at an elevation of 537 feet. To find out how much he needs to climb back to his starting elevation of 453 feet, we can calculate: \[ 537 - 453 = 84 \text{ feet} \]

Therefore, the climber needs to descend 84 feet to return to the original starting point of 453 feet.