How 'high'? At the time of the post in question, 14,000 feet... it was snowing..

While waiting for the laser dye to warm up I took a walk outside and some tourists in a suburban drove up and stopped me... they asked me some questions about the keck telescopes....

They had some bizzarre notions about how they worked.... I spent 10 minutes explaining and correcting their misconceptions... they accepted the correction and got to see the massive dome rotate....

see, they were willing to change their views, based on rational explanation.... in that way, Johannes, they are your intellectual superiors.

They wanted to see the telescope, but the viewing gallery was closed... they asked me if they could come in and see it... I personally would have loved to show them around, but visitors that go beyond the gallery have to sign a waiver... there are too many ways a visitor could kill themselves in the dome.... and a violent visitor could cause millions of dollars damage tossing a handfull of change on the Primary...

In my time here we have a tourist pass out about once a month due to the low oxygen here.... we have oxygen bottles to revive them....

As for Cannabis, NOTHING except one bug lives naturally at the summit. There is one native bug that lives on the numerous bugs that get blown up onto the summit by winds from Hilo... from the nature of your posts I understand your concern for cannabis, but the summit is devoid of plants..... It really looks like mars.....There may be single celled creatures that live up there, but thats it......

My red blood cell count is probably high enough to panic a doctor.... I am lucky that the altitude doesnt impair me too much , but working on the summit is like going to work with a few glasses of wine.....

Keck understands this and has a stringent policy that all critical functions are done by 2 people at the least...... As far as safety goes I have never worked in an environment as safety concious as this one.....