Space Elevator

I came across another competition that has companies working on tech for a space elevator.  http://www.spaceelevatorgames.org/.  This would be great.  Easy access to space. Safe and quick with low cost.  And not just to space but to orbit and higher.  They have teams working on the elvator which they call Power Beaming at http://www.spaceward.org/elevator2010-ts.  And they have teams working on the tether too.  http://www.spaceelevator.com/ and http://wiki.spaceelevator.com/ are references for people interested in how they are trying to do this.  The main drawback is the tether.  They need a very strong and light weight material that won't destroy it's self from it's own weight.  It will have to be very long, about 60,000 miles.  I am not sure why, but they have their reasons.  They are hoping that eventually Carbon Nanotubes will be the answer to the tether problem.  Until then, it's a great idea.  There are 6 teams competing on the Power Beam:  http://space-elevator.mcgill.ca/, http://www.mclimber.org/, http://www.lasermotive.com/, http://www.kcspacepirates.com/, http://www.usst.ca/, and http://www.nssspaceelevator.org/.  No teams have signed up for the tether competition yet.  The prize is $4 million.  I will be watching this race as well.  It is a bit more mundane then the Space Tourism Race involving spaceships, but, it is vital.  Cheap, reliable, and yes even mundane access to space is key to making access available to everyone.  The last info on the competition was in 2009.  I hope they have a 2010 update soon.