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. 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?
Responses
A/ascend 84 feet
B/ascend 78 feet
C/descend 84 feet
D/descend 78 feet
To return to the original starting point, the climber needs to ascend or descend the same amount as their total net elevation change.
The climber climbed a total of 162 feet + 207 feet = 369 feet.
They also descended 285 feet.
To find the net elevation change, we subtract the descent from the total ascent:
369 feet - 285 feet = 84 feet
Therefore, the climber needs to ascend or descend 84 feet to return to the original starting point.
The correct answer is A/ascend 84 feet.