At 16,568 feet (5,050 meters) above sea level, Nepal's Pyramid International Laboratory/ Observatory is situated in the most unforgiving of places. The mean daily maximum temperatures stay below freezing for half the year.
A howling wind screams through the steel, aluminum, and glass structure. The weather here changes on a whim: sometimes you see black clouds, sometimes it rains, and heaps of snow descend without a moment’s notice. It’s lucky to see the clear sky.
Yet: the Pyramid’s geometric shape, almost three-thirds wider on each side than its height, provides stability and resistance to the elements, even withstanding the 2015 Nepal earthquake and subsequent avalanches that completely wiped out the Mount Everest Base Camp.
Why build a glass pyramid near the top of the Himalayas? Read Gobinda Pokharel's feature to learn more about the past, the present, and the future of what was the world's highest laboratory:
