So this elevator "would crawl up a single cable into space over several days." How would people be able to not start up conversations for that long? Would they be allowed to make eye contact or would they have to look up at the ceiling? What if there's a pretty girl on the elevator? And would they pipe in Muzak? These are the things that would have to be worked out.
That's too much "Girl from Ipanema" for me.
Maybe I could finally prove my theory that the more people on an elevator is directly proportional to the time it takes to get to the next floor.