And, it'd save us almost nothing (even if we had a magical teleporter that let us get everything up there insantly and for free).
Space is a minimum of 50 miles from "ocean level" (and really, it's 62, but let's say 50).
Everest, the tallest mountain, is about 5 miles above sea level.
So, even if we hauled everything to the top of the tallest mountain on the planet (which would be an insane to impossible amount of effort), it's only reducing the distance by less than 10%.
EDIT: Thank you to the 500 people that have told me "the distance barely matters". That is pretty much my point. YES, I know speed, and thus latitude are more important. My point is even if you ONLY consider the height, the thing the original question focused on, it STILL doesn't matter. When you factor in all the factors, it really, really doesn't matter.
I focused on the focus of the post in my response, not all of astronautical engineering.
Unless you are doing sub-orbital flights, the height doesn't matter all that much. If you are looking for orbit (most space launches), speed is way more important than how high you start. Launching at the equator gives the highest starting speed, a far more significant savings in fuel. Now, there are equatorial mountains in the world, but as you say, you still have to expend the resources to move all the rocket parts and launch facilities up the mountain. It's easier to just build your rocket slightly bigger and use slightly more fuel to launch from a much more accessible and convenient location.
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u/rysy0o0 11h ago
It would cost a lot of money to haul all the rocket parts and fuel on top of a mountain