I spent time in Lhasa, it sits at 12k. It was like another world. High altitude isn't forgiving either. My (62) father was with me and didn't make it home.

I grew up in the mountains at about 8500 ft, but was often spending my freetime at higher elevations surrounding the village. There are lots of little things about living at high altitude people don't think about, such as cooking times and quirks, sealed containers exploding when going up, etc. My favorite has to be just how superhuman (when I was in my prime) going down to low elevation made me feel.

The biggest issue people don't talk about? Remote high alt places often become unlivable for people when they get elderly due to altitude interference in certain medical conditions, and the general distance away from hospitals.

I miss the mountains so much all the time, and hope to retire back up there.

I lived in Breckenridge (9,600ft) for a few winters post college.

Before college, when I had last been to CO, I didn't get any altitude sickness. Post college, I discovered (by blacking out on the slopes at Vail) that I now got bad altitude sickness. It now takes me almost 2 weeks to aclimate, but once I do, boy, is it amazing.

The most fun time was when I flew home to the East Coast after being there 4 months. I felt like absolute Superman. So much energy, barely needed any sleep! I only wish those effects lasted more than 5 days...

I grew up in Memphis TN but lived in Boulder CO for a few years. I worked at a hospital in both cities; my job was checking people into the ER.

In Memphis, I’d probably see 7-10 heart related issues a day, with about 2-3 of them being actual heart attacks. Every single day.

By contrast, in Boulder I saw maybe 1-2 heart attacks a year.

It was absolutely astounding. Now, there could be some confounding variables like income/education/exercise/diet. But like another poster said, high altitude places seem to bring out more activity in us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rinconada,_Peru at 5,100 m (16,700 ft) is the highest town in the world. Locals play soccer on the street after working all day at the mines, visitors need oxygen tanks.

Note that 8000ft is the regulatory maximum cabin altitude in a plane, although many keep it lower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_pressurization

Higher UV…

Theoretically solar cells designed for more more UV intensity could produce quite a lot more electricity.

I imagine solar panels for space craft are designed with this in mind.

Of course the economics of this, that there’s only a few places where this is useful wouldn’t justify it all.

Worked for four months as a mountain bike guide on the death road in La Paz. 3600 meters to 4800 getting to the start of the road to about 1000 meters each day, and back. I believe I made many blood cells and nearly died 3 times

If anyone watched that movie, Elevation[0], the “line of death” was 8,000 feet.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevation_(film)