Olympus Mons

Is this some sort of joke?

— Rudie Heuten, tourist

Olympus Mons is regarded by many to be the worst tourist trap in all of Sol. "Highest mountain known to humanity" has a nice ring to it on paper, but the reality of the matter is disappointing. With a height of 26 km above the surrounding planes the volcano does in fact hold that record. The base of the mountain is so large, however, and the slope so gentle, that to a person standing on its peak it does not look like a mountain at all, the plains below vanishing beyond the horizon. Such details are omitted from promotional material, of course.
Despite all of the mountains shortcomings, enterprising individuals smelled profit as soon as Mars became available to mass transit. Soon, a number of hotels appeared, with varying levels of quality. Today, Olympus Mons hosts a small city of the same name. It was home to a couple thousand inhabitants at its height, most of which are working in the tourism industry on some way. It is even connected to the martian maglev network and can be reached from New Baikonur in a matter of hours.
The boom from the first few decades of interplanetary tourism is long gone, however. These days, the rundown town's 539 inhabitants subsist mostly on a few shady casinos, which profit from the lax to nonexistent regulations that come with the extraterritorial nature of the place. Needless to say, the few tourists each year who failed to do their research and actually come expecting the vista of a lifetime are bound to be sorely disappointed.

by nearlyoctagonal

Type

Mountain / Hill

Location under

Mars