okay - yup I get the difference between anchor and counterweight now.

Somewhere I once saw the maths that explain in what cases the "eleavator" would drop

a) nearly straight down

b) wrap around the earth

c) fly our to space

or in some cases a & C or b & C
to varying degrees.

but I don't recall. It primarily had to do with vector forces acting on the cable and where along the length problems occurred etc.