True. Taking a helicopter is way more impressive. The Everest was climbed in 1953 and the first helicopter to go there was in 2005. It is way harder thing to do.
No, in your analogy building a helicopter capable of going there is impressive. (Though I dispute the idea that it’s more impressive simply because helicopters were invented more recently than mountain climbing.) In any case, riding in a helicopter remains passive and in no sense impressive.