Mark Synnott – författare

The Impossible Climb climaxes with Alex Honnold''s unprecedented, almost unimaginable feat: a 3,000-foot vertical climb up El Capitan in Yosemite, without a rope. Mark Synnott tells the story in the context of a deeply reported account of their ten-year friendship, multiple climbing expeditions, and the climbing ethos they share.One slip, one false move, one missed toehold, and you''re dead. Alex Honnold, the #1 free solo climber in the world, chose the route known as Freerider on Yosemite''s El Capitan, a series of pitches so hard that it''s newsworthy when someone free climbs it with a rope. No one had ever "free soloed" it before; only a few people have ever even contemplated it. That four-hour climb on June 3, 2017, was, simply, one of the boldest feats in human history. At the same time, it was almost unbearable to watch--as Mark Synnott did. That morning anchors a story that begins more than a decade before, a story only Mark Synnott could tell.Synnott, an experienced and well-known climber sponsored (like Honnold) by the North Face, weaves a story from his ten-year relationship with Honnold, including Honnold''s first season at Yosemite, when this twenty-one-year-old was recognized as a prodigy. Synnott was team leader on Honnold''s first international climbing expedition to Borneo, and that tale, along with other expeditions they made to Chad and Oman, provide deep insight into the life of a professional climber. So too does Synnott''s stories of his own amateur and professional experiences, in particular his vertical-mile wall climb in the Karakoram, which demonstrates how tensions arise when a cutting-edge climb is turned into a performance for public consumption. The Impossible Climb is more than an adventure story about courage that defies human boundaries. It is an emotional drama about friendship, respect, and trust. It is about an outdoor culture and why climbers climb; but ultimately, it is a story about all of us, about overcoming fear and making the most of our lives.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 SPORTS BOOK AWARDS'The best Everest book I've read since Into Thin Air. Synnott's climbing skills take you places few will ever dare to tread, but it's his writing that will keep you turning pages well past bedtime.' - Mark AdamsVeteran climber Mark Synnott never planned on climbing Mount Everest. But a hundred-year mystery lured him into an expedition where a history of passionate adventure, chilling tragedy, and human aspiration unfolded.George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were last seen in 1924, eight hundred feet shy of Everest's summit. A century later, we still don't know whether they achieved their goal of being first to reach the top, decades before Hillary and Norgay in 1953. Irvine carried a camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit and take a photograph before they fell to their deaths?Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face to try and find Irvine's body and the camera. But during a season described as 'the one that broke Everest', an awful traffic jam of climbers at the summit resulted in tragic deaths. Synnott's quest became something bigger than the original mystery that drew him there - an attempt to understand the madness of the mountain and why it continues to have a magnetic draw on explorers.Exploring how science, business and politics have changed who climbs Everest, The Third Pole is a thrilling portrait of the mountain spanning a century.

Shortlisted for Biography of the Year at the Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2020Shortlisted for Adventure Travel Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2020On June 3rd 2017, professional climber Mark Synnott was in Yosemite to witness something that only a handful of people knew was about to occur: his friend, Alex Honnold, was going to attempt to summit one of the world's most challenging ascents, a route called Freerider on the notorious rock formation El Capitan. It is an extraordinarily dangerous and difficult climb, and yet Alex was going to do it 'free solo'. Meaning no help. No partner. No equipment. No rope. Where a single small mistake would mean certain death. Indeed, to summit El Cap free solo was a feat likened to Neil Armstrong first walking on the moon.As Alex plots, rehearses and ultimately attempts his heart-stopping ascent, Mark also shares his own personal history of climbing, filled with triumphs, defeats and dilemmas, in this deeply reported, inspiring exhortation to live life to the fullest.