Pumping water uphill is already in common use. Here are a couple of other ideas:<p>Use electric cargo trains to carry many loads of gravel from the bottom of a mountain to the top. Dump the gravel out into a huge pile. Later, load the gravel back in the trains and regenerative brake all the way back down the mountain.<p>Cut a large-diameter shaft into bedrock. Using the rubble from the excavation of the shaft as aggregate, pour a very heavy concrete piston that fits in the shaft. Pump water into the bottom to lift the piston, discharge pressurized water through turbines later.<p>Compress air and put it in old natural gas wells. Discharge pressurized air through turbines later.<p>Use a large heat pump to warm depleted uranium or similarly dense material in a large vacuum flask. Run the heat pump backwards (like a steam engine) later.