The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest

by Mark Synnott

***NPR Books We Love selection***

“If you’re only going to read one Everest book this decade, make it The Third Pole. . . . A riveting adventure.”— Outside

Shivering, exhausted, gasping for oxygen, beyond doubt . . .

A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as “the Year Everest Broke.” What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul—and your life—if you let it.
 
The mystery? On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine set out to stand on the roof of the world, where no one had stood before. They were last seen eight hundred feet shy of Everest’s summit still “going strong” for the top. Could they have succeeded decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? Irvine is believed to have carried a Kodak camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did the frozen film in that camera have a photograph of Mallory and Irvine on the summit before they disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again? Kodak says the film might still be viable. . . .
 
Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face along with his friend Renan Ozturk, a filmmaker using drones higher than any had previously flown. Readers witness first-hand how Synnott’s quest led him from oxygen-deprivation training to archives and museums in England, to Kathmandu, the Tibetan high plateau, and up the North Face into a massive storm. The infamous traffic jams of climbers at the very summit immediately resulted in tragic deaths. Sherpas revolted. Chinese officials turned on Synnott’s team. An Indian woman miraculously crawled her way to frostbitten survival. Synnott himself went off the safety rope—one slip and no one would have been able to save him—committed to solving the mystery.
 
Eleven climbers died on Everest that season, all of them mesmerized by an irresistible magic. The Third Pole is a rapidly accelerating ride to the limitless joy and horror of human obsession.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Adventure, Mountaineering, Travel, Memoir, Sports

448 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 2021

About the author

Excerpt from Mark's official website:

"Mark Synnott is a New York Times bestselling author, a pioneering big wall climber and one of the most prolific adventurers of his generation. His search for unclimbed and unexplored rock walls has taken him on more than 30 expeditions to places like Alaska, Baffin Island, Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland, Patagonia, Guyana, Venezuela, Pakistan, Nepal, India, China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Russia, Cameroon, Chad, Borneo, Oman and Pitcairn Island. Closer to home, Mark has climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan 24 times, including several one-day ascents."

Author image: © Paul Reitano, used here by permission of the author

Reviews

[Dax · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Initially the author seems to want to bill it as a quest to solve the Mallory/Irvine summit mystery, but that quickly falls by the wayside once the climbers succumb to summit fever. In reality, 'The Third Pole' gives the reader an idea of what it is like to attempt to climb Everest today. The most interesting part covers "the day that Everest broke" which took place in 2018 when a traffic jam of climbers, coupled with deteriorating weather, lead to a number of deaths. Synnott and his team were not attempting their summit that day, but he has gathered details of several climbing experiences that day that make for a harrowing read. The chapters on Mallory and Irvine's expedition are entertaining as well, but I am not sure it adds much from the well regarded 'Into the Silence'. I did enjoy the chapters covering the 1999 expedition that discovered Mallory's body though.

As well as being an excellent climber, Synnott is a solid writer and the enjoyment factor with this book is high enough to warrant four stars.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me forever to read because I wasn't a fan of how this book was told. I don't think the author really knew what he wanted this book to be. About Mallory/Irvine? About his own trek up Everest? About the mentality of someone who decides to go up Everest? I found the parts where the author went to museums to look up things/artifacts about Irvine pretty boring and stalling to when we actually get scenes on the mountain, which is what I'm most interested in. The last 100 pages were really hard for me because within a chapter it would switch between the author's time on Everest and Mallory and Irvine's expedition and then someone else completely different. I get the author was trying to compare his climb to theirs, but with so many different people involved, it was so hard for me to keep track as we kept on switching constantly between each story. Then, we also got scenes of all of the people on the mountain with the author that were dying or close to death because it was a really tough season on the mountain that year. Flipping between people and getting someone's past while we get what they were doing on Everest was just too much. I was also pretty let down by the end and disappointed in the author for what he did, especially with so many lives in both a life/death situation and a work/reputation sense. I guess the title does say "obsession" and the author really did let that obsession get to him while he was on the mountain as well. As far as Everest books go, I didn't really love my experience reading this one.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hit the spot! The best Everest book I've read since Into Thin Air, delivering just what I look for in these books: a journalists' eye mixed with in-the-moment mountaineering experience, historical context and a critical discussion of the lure of Everest, who climbs it and why, and what amounts to a lot of needless deaths (imo). After reading The Next Everest, I longed for someone to talk more critically about crowding on Everest, about the life or death choices made on the mountain, about the impacts in the region and the ethical questions raised... and with a healthy dose of the history.

Ding, ding, ding! With the bonus of this book being one of the few written by Westerners to approach from the North/Tibetan/Chinese side and all the mechanics that entails. It felt fresh and different. It seamlessly weaves the history of Everest (and even literally geographic measuring by the colonial British in India which was so random and nerdy and I loved it), the fateful Mallory/Irvine expedition where they perished, the 2019 expedition to recover Irvine's body, the "day Everest broke" that year (with immersive stories of several people who both lived and died that day), and some of the geopolitical intrigue, re: the Chinese potentially sabotaging the mission. It was imminently readable and I enjoyed every minute.

I watched the National Geographic documentary they filmed during this expedition, and man it's strange to contrast it to the candidness of the book. It's cool to see the visuals described (and they truly assembled a fantastic team for this), but I presume out of sensitivity to the Chinese (re: Disney owns NatGeo & Disney often kowtows to the Chinese--like most media companies--b/c they want to be in China b/c $$$) they left out ALL the juicy drama from the book. Literally porters assigned to the trip by the Chinese government delivering false weather reports--possibly, allegedly--to try and get the American's ascent cancelled! Spies among the climbing support team. Other juicy tidbits I won't spoil but made me GASP at the end (that are in complete contrast to what Synnott says in the documentary itself--the conclusion in the book is much richer in its speculation). High drama!

So especially if you DID watch that documentary and were a bit "meh" about it--read this book b/c the full story is much richer, thorny, and nuanced. If you're new to Everest books and want to read a good one, read this book (also Into Thin Air). If you want to dip your toes into narrative non-fiction w/ a historical bend and find super rich people sometimes killing themselves to climb a mountain fascinating... yeah read this book. I adore Into Thin Air and it continues to be a reread for me, but The Third Pole is now essential Everest reading b/c you need the continuing context of how much more crowded, commercialized, and deadly Everest has become since 1996--especially with the double-edged sword of more "affordable" climbs for less experienced enthusiasts (who are mostly non-Westerners which begs lots of questions, as well). It is staggering. And as a bonus, the book is beautifully sourced and I have a few more books to add to my TBR! (yes I'm the nerd who read all the sourcing/footnotes)

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently published/great non-fiction.

Part history, part adventure, mostly Everest. I saw this book on a best of 2021 list and was immediately intrigued. I have long looked for another Everest book after reading Into Thin Air. This latest covers more recent times--2019-- and for anyone who saw the famous photo of the traffic jam on the southeast ridge of the Nepal side of the mountain--may know of the latest concerns for the mountain and the desire by so many (many not qualified climbers) to climb this "top of the world peak". This book not only does a great job of covering the 1924 climb of Mallory and Irvine but does a close examination on the controversy of who managed to reach the summit first.
The author does an incredible job of weaving that story into his own. Mr Synnott--an experienced/professional climber became part of a National Geographic team that hoped to find the body of Sandy Irvine (Mallory's climbing partner who disappeared with him on the summit push in 1924).
Mr. Synnott also tells of his own climb to the summit and the various concerns he has for the mountain and all that transpired during the 2019 climbing season.
It is an exciting tale and for the first 200 pages I didn't want to put it down. I managed to find the audio online and started listening to it while I did other things. This is not a book I would recommend on audio. The narration seemed to make the story one dimensional, I had a much better time with the physical book with its great photos and just imagining the climb both in the days with little equipment for the purpose and present day with special suits and oxygen tanks.
It was an excellent read and would recommend it for anyone who loves true life adventure stories.
Looking deeper there is some film of this 2019 expedition on YouTube

I'm still trying to decide star value. Somewhere between 4 and 5. It did get a little confusing at times with names and keeping straight who is present day and who was 1924. A list would have been helpful though the author did include several very helpful maps and there is a full index in the back and a great source guide for each chapter. Really a wonderful read

[Holli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to love this one so much but I actually stayed up late and woke up early to keep reading. This book feels like a perfect update/companion to Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" with its modern take on the mountain and the culture around it.
I read "Into Thin Air" in college and ever since I have sneered at the idea of Everest and the people that pay $65k to "climb" it. That infamous conga line/traffic jam picture from March 2019 further confirmed that assessment. If you saw that picture or read the think pieces about Everest I would encourage you to read this. Synnott takes the time to give context for why Everest became famous and why it continues to draw crowds despite its commercialization. But more than that he provides an honest, first-hand account of being on the mountain in 2019 with all it's politics and modernizations.
The narrative swaps between recounting the 1924 expedition and the events that lead to Synott being part of an expedition whose goal was not to summit but to find the body of Sandy Irvine. I found both storylines compelling. Even if you are well acquainted with the story of Mallory and Irvine I think you would still enjoy this book for some of the new information and its insightful look at the 2019 season.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book was the exploration of the question "why climb Everest?". Synnott doesn't seem to know the answer since he had never been obsessed with the highest peak. So he introduces us to other climbers, both past and present, and tells their stories. He brings us to Base Camp and Advanced Base Camp and shows us the people that populate it. He describes in vivid detail what it feels like to be in the shadow of the mountain and consider *not* trying to climb it. In the end, I think I understood a little bit of the obsession. I don't want to climb Everest and I still think those that do are a bit crazy but I have more sympathy for them now.
I particularly enjoyed the section that tried to illuminate why so many people get left for dead on the route. I think that is probably the hardest thing to understand about the situation of Everest today. I still find it horrific and hope one day some of my friends read this book so we can talk about it... cause I have opinions!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Maria V. Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good Chomolungma tale! This one investigates if Mallory and Irvine were the first to summit the mountain in 1924 - but also looks at why people attempt to summit despite the very real danger. I learned a few things, including why Chomolungma is called Everest and I now prefer to use the Tibetan name for the mountain. :)

[P K · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was kind of a flop for me for a couple of reasons. I typically like mountaineering adventure books, my favorite one is Buried in the Sky. But unlike that book, this book contributed very little new insight or perspective. There was the cool central story of Mallory and Irvine perhaps being the first to summit Everest, instead of Hillary and Norgay as is currently believed, but the resolution of that narrative line was so anticlimactic. Synnott gets to the spot where they previously determined Irvine’s body might lie and finds that it’s just a natural feature that sort of looks like a crevice with a body in it if you squint hard with lots of optimism at a low resolution photo taken from far away. He then becomes aware of rumors that Chinese climbers found the body ages ago and are covering it up to protect their first ascent up the North Face status. But it’s unclear from the writing why Synnott wasn’t aware of these rumors before. If they’re so compelling, why did he do the climb at all? Maybe if I had never read an Everest adventure book before this would be a fine book, but I didn’t find enough unique material to warrant a higher review. Additionally, Synnott’s writing is a bit clunky and amateurish. He describes a climber on Everest as “lost in her revelry” for example. He describes an imagined situation of Irvine hanging upside down near death contemplating his lost “wonderful human potential.” Also, Synnott goes to great pains to champion Sherpa climbers, in leading and in supporting capacities, but then says that a famous early explorer summitted alone, with only his Sherpas for company. Also, Synnott goes off rope to explore the potential Irvine body area in the face of vehement opposition from his guides. I understand why he did that, but the casually playful tone he uses to refer to the incident like “My support climber was real mad, but he’s cool, right bro? He’s totally over it” seemed dubious to me.
In short, not my favorite mountaineering adventure book. There are better books on the topic available, unless you’re specifically interested in the potential Mallory and Irvine first ascent.

[Bonnie E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a lover of non-fiction books about mountaineering and exploring and an overall adventure junkie like me, this is one of the better stories you’ll read. Told from the perspective of an expedition team whose primary interest was in finding “Sandy” Irvine’s body on Everest, but which caught summit fever like so many others while in the shadow of the highest mountain on Earth, it’s a riveting read. The team had technology and tools that provided them with good likelihood of success of discovering the British explorer’s body (and camera) including drones which were able to function in the Death Zone. The narrative includes insights into the Mallory and Irvine climb in 1924, as well as the 1999 expedition when George Mallory’s body was found on the northeast ridge of Everest. The book captures the mood of the mountain in 2019 when hundreds of people (955 in all) attempted to summit, and in the process created the infamous “conga line” at the top, a picture which went viral at that time. There are harrowing accounts throughout, and sherpas who are usually the unsung heroes of the mountain are given their due. The author is an accomplished climber who weaves all the stories together in a way that made the book hard to put down, leaving images that stick with you.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this several days ago and cannot get it out of my mind. I found the history parts of the story to be fascinating and the modern parts to be very thought-provoking.

Read the blurb--it is excellent. I picked this up because I am an armchair traveler; I really enjoy a well-written account that blends history in with explorations. The author's look at the modern business of climbing Mt Everest was a real eye-opener for me.

A warning: a few of the photos are rather graphic (dead bodies). There is also a very frank discussion on why the dead were left where they fell; as well as an examination of the dilemmas of aiding climbers in distress. A lot of food for thought; I certainly came away with several preconceptions destroyed.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Day that Broke Everest is something you have undoubtedly seen a picture of – you know that photo of the line for the Summit.

See, you know it.

Synnott was there. He summitted the next day. This book is part story of those events and part a glimpse at the conjunction surrounding Malory and Irvine (who may or may not have submitted but most assuredly died on Everest. Malory’s body was found in 1999).

In most cases, this would lead to a book that cannot decide what it what wants to be – conquering the mountain story or mystery quest, and usually that is a bad thing. Yet, here, it works.

In part this is because of Synnott’s writing. He has a grab you style. You want to keep reading. His history lectures are not boring. When he discusses the complication and complexities of morality in the death zone, he does it in such way that does more than lip service. The vim and vigor of the prose is more than enough to grab and hold the attention of the reader. You can feel and hear the wind.

But it isn’t just Synnott’s writing style that balances out and makes up for a book that it doesn’t know quite what it wants to be. It’s the captivation of Everest and the desire for the Summit. Synnott starts out on his quest for Everest because he is captivated by the story of Malory and Irvine (and the book goes into the possible answers to the various questions about the fate of the men). Yet, slowly, the reader can see the idea of Everest itself take over. In some ways, the book is an almost brutal and yet somewhat unwittingly look at how an obsession can take over.

How Synnott’s original quest plays out as the obsession goes is an integral part of the story. As are the other more complex moral questions – climbing permits, treatment of Sherpas for instance as well as the question of morality in the death zone – that Synnott leaves with the reader to examine because he is also part of those larger questions.

[William Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Synnott's The Third Pole will transport you to Mount Everest during the 2019 climbing season as he searches for the remains of Sandy Irvine that may help prove the British summited Everest in the 1920s. Through extensive research from the original British Everest expedition as well as the 1960s China Expedition Mark set out to solve a mystery almost 100 years in the making. Mark shares with the reader not only his story but the story of people he meets along the way. Showing that there isn't a single answer to the question, “Why are you climbing Mount Everest?”. The Third Pole is a thrilling book that really grabs the reader with the sense of adventure and danger. Before setting foot on the mountain you are on a treasure hunt while Mark uses modern technology to analyze the mountain to aid in the search for Sandy. By the end of the book I was drained and felt like I had been on Mount Everest myself. The Third Pole was hard to put down, you just didn’t know what was going to happen next once they were on Mount Everest.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A total surprise, was this book. I am far from anyone who understands the seduction of which Mt. Everest to the smallest pile of climbable rocks present to an entire band of people: climbers. Rock-climbers, cliff-hangers, free-climbers, solo-climbers, indoor-sports-climbing, outdoor-bouldering, buildering, rappelling or going trad. . .well. Yeah. I don't get 'em. At all. So why did this book have me interested?

History, maybe. The mystery - who was first? was it really Hillary/Norgay? or Mallory/Irving? or ? Whatever it was, it spurred me on to the very end of this book. Even the side bits were interesting, bodies, trash and abandoned sports gear left in situ in ways no nation allows, without a backward glance. Over centuries . Crazy, man.

Kept my attention, and I googled like a madwoman on a completely new topic. What more can one ask for?

[Emily Schnabl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everest books are a guilty pleasure. This is one of the finest of the lot. A lot of detail but also reflection on ethical dilemmas and the pull of the mountain. I have had trouble concentrating during the pandemic but this gripped me.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not interested in mountain climbing. I think those people are nuts. It must have been Moonkiszt’s review that convinced me to read this book.
After reading it, I’ve decided I am not interested in mountain climbing. I think those people are nuts.

[Pooja Peravali · Rating 3 out of 5]

In search of the body of Sandy Irvine and the solution to the mystery of whether he and George Mallory ever made it to the summit, the author and his team climb Mt Everest during one of the deadliest seasons ever.

I am not sure why I am drawn to stories about Mt Everest. Certainly I mean to never climb it, and I can't quite empathize with those who are drawn to it, even if I can understand it sometimes. And books like this underscore why.

This book is a mix of things - part a history of the Mallory expedition and the search for it a hundred years later, part a story of climbing Everest in the modern day and part about a deadly day for a climb in the 2018 season, stemming from the infamous traffic jam as well as the general dangers of climbing Everest. As you can tell, there is a lot going on here and this results in a mixed focus, with sections of the story jockeying for position, as so the overall impact is reduced.

I also didn't always like the narrator and his team, especially as they sometimes attempted to deceive the Sherpas in a way that could have impacted their lives and livelihood, but considering the secrecy surrounding the expedition it made sense. It ties into a broader story about morals breaking down on Everest, one that I was surprised and pleased to see the author tackle. High on the mountain, spurred on my summit fever, people often lose sight of humanity and have even left others to die, devoid of all altruism. Secure in my bed, I can judge them, but Synnott posited that the question is more complicated than that, though I never could pin down where he stood on the issue.

Overall, an interesting read, best where it discusses the challenges and glories of climbing Everest today. 

[Chris Dietzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for anything related to Everest survival and especially anything related to Mallory and Irvine's doomed climb. The king in the category of Everest survival is still Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster and the best book I've read related specifically to Mallory and Irvine's climb and the search for their bodies was Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine. However, if you've already read those or just like the topic, you won't be disappointed in this one. Synnott writes about himself more than I enjoy, and he also has a habit of trying to make minor bureaucratic affairs sound like major plot points, but outside of that he does a good job.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Third Pole is an absolutely captivating story of mystery, intrigue, and danger that offers a fresh perspective on one of the 20th century's biggest obsessions. There has been a lot of high-quality reporting of the extent of commercialization and packaging that has constrained exploratory potential and substantially reduced the technical rigor needed to climb the world's tallest peak, but Synnott's work here stands out in its thorough discussion of the political and social context of this commercialization, the deep ties to colonialism, the ethical dilemmas of environmental conservation and the use of aids like supplemental oxygen, and the pinnacle of moral conundrums involved in the seemingly unavoidable question of whether to rescue another summiteer in distress or complete your own quest. I came for the mystery and stayed for the exceptional exposition on some of the biggest questions surrounding Mt. Everest expeditions today.

Beginning as a mission with a whole host of moral superiority, Synnott and his team set out specifically not to summit (indeed, even pitching their expedition as "anti-Everest"), but strictly to locate the body of Sandy Irvine, one of two men widely believed to have summited Mt. Everest from the north in 1924, decades before the much better-documented success of the Chinese in 1960. While the body of Irvine's partner, George Mallory, was discovered in 1999, Irvine's had yet to be definitively located, although there was wide speculation about where it was likely to be found. Armed with a drone to scope out the area before they made the climb--getting the drone to fly at that altitude was itself a magnificent achievement--the team set out on a journey that was bound to significantly bend quite a few rules, if not outright break them.

On their quest to the top, Synnott and his team encountered all of the usual hazards faced by the average summiteer: unfavorable weather, struggles with acclimatization, health effects from embolisms to sudden-onset neurological issues, and gear issues, aside from just pure exhaustion. But they also faced tremendous barriers specific to their unique goal, including Chinese spies embedded in their sherpa crew, political barriers to getting the drone into the country and operating it, and a full-blown disinformation campaign from the Chinese government resulting in a sherpa mutiny. What they did not have to contend with was the absolutely insane queueing that took place on Mt. Everest in the spring 2019 season and jeopardized dozens of lives from overcrowding alone. All because they gambled on the weather.

The story of Mallory and Irvine is quite an interesting one itself, although it gets a bit lost in everything else going on in this book. Even though the team did not end up turning up Irvine's body, I felt a surprising lack of disappointment. The search was no longer the main feature, and there was so much other knowledge to be gained. In particular, I became incredibly invested in the story of Kam, an Indian woman who managed to summit, but was so slow that her team (including her climbing sherpa) left her behind for dead, and placed her descent in considerable jeopardy. Her story brought up all of the moral questions around the marketing of Everest expeditions that make all of the danger seem surmountable, the question of when it is right to stop and assist another climber and when all you are doing is putting yourself in jeopardy, and all of the trauma that comes with watching others die and coming so close to death yourself. And yet her story was just one of many that brought up all of these issues.

I also did very much appreciate the consideration Synnott gave to descriptions of the pay disparities in American and local guides, the evolution of local outfitters and the socioeconomic context of how dramatically the balance has changed in the last ten years, and the true outsourcing of significant levels of risk to sherpas (that has been well-covered elsewhere in recent years as well). I also appreciated the level of mostly honest dialogue about how some of the decisions his team made had much greater repercussions for their sherpas than themselves. Overall, he's definitely still an American who thinks he should be able to do what he wants when he wants (and even overtly states that toward the end), but the weight given to the impact of these highly commercialized expeditions on the sherpas did surpass my expectations.

In sum, The Third Pole is an engrossing read that I consumed in almost a single sitting, and I highly recommend it to anyone with a penchant for outdoor adventuring. Much thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the eARC in exchange for the review.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even with today’s guided climbs of Mount Everest which result in even novice climbers reaching the summit of the world’s tallest mountain, the peak still inspires wonder and even a mystery. It was a mystery that was nearly 100 years old that inspired the author of this book, Mark Synnott, to undertake an expedition on Everest and his account of this made for a great engrossing book. Add in stories of other climbers and the reason why he wanted to solve this mystery makes it a gripping read as well.
The mystery is a question of who were truly the first climbers to reach Everest’s peak. History shows that it was Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, but nearly thirty years earlier, two British explorers, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, attempted the feat. They were last seen 800 feet short of the summit and Irvine allegedly had a Kodak camera that would have shown if they had reached the top and taken photos. That had never been proven one way or another, not even when Mallory’s body was found in 1999. Since Irvine’s body and the camera had never been found, Synnott became part of a 2019 expedition that want to answer the question. This expedition would not only be human but also use drones for recording and filming any evidence of Mallory and Irvine reaching the summit.
What evolves is not only what Synnott and the other team members endure on the mountain and at ground level (bureaucratic red tape by the Chinese government) but also an excellent critique of other aspects of scaling Everest. One of the best sections on topics not related to Synnott’s expedition is his description of the exploitation of the work done by sherpas. He tells of their dangerous work and the inadequate recognition and respect given to them. However, many people will risk their lives and their relationships for this occupation as the payout will often make a sherpa financially set for the rest of their life. He also includes a nice explanation of the general use of the word “sherpa” against the culture of the Sherpas in Nepal.
A reader who is not familiar with the climb by Mallory and Irvine will learn about it and the two climbers with enough information to understand why Synnott wanted to make this trek. This isn’t everything known about them, however, and there are other books on them if the reader wants to know their complete story. These bits about them are woven into the book at different times and it will require careful reading to keep their stories apart from those of the other climbers, but it is worth the time to do so.
Adventures and results of other climbers are also interspersed in the book, both for those who reached the summit and survived and for those who perished. The stories are personal, engrossing and will evoke many emotions for readers. One in particular that covers the gamut of these emotions is the climb by a British woman named Kamaljeet Kaur, who went by the name “Kam.” After a brutal gang attack and subsequent depression, Kam used climbing as her therapy and it led her to Everest, where she eventually reached the top but nearly died in the process. The writing of her story is not only hard to put down, but hard to read at times. However, it is one that illustrates what makes this book so good for any reader who likes adventure or mountaineering books. And the result of Synnott’s expedition? No spoilers here – pick up the book to find that out and be prepared to be drawn into the wonder of Mount Everest.
I wish to thank Dutton Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.


https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Emma Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avert your eyes if you don't want spoilers because what I'm about to say is a whole bunch of spoilers all at once.

This was- and this is in terrible taste because it's non-fiction and a lot of people die- a lot of fun and Very Silly. You know that everything is going to go terribly wrong right from the outset because they set off on their incredibly expensive and dangerous expedition on the flimsiest of rouses. They aren't even convinced of it themselves. They lie to the Chinese government, they lie to the Sherpas on whom their lives depend and whose livelihoods depend on them, and when they get to Everest they pretty much immediately abandon the plan because they actually do want to summit Everest after all (which they had all sworn they had no interest at all in doing. You know. Like liars.)

When the time comes to actually look for Irvines' body and the camera which is their entire reason for being there, a very perfunctory peek around a ledge reveals of course it is not there. Everyone told them it wouldn't be there. They never really thought it would be there. The one place they looked was only one place they sort of suspected might be a likely place that it could have been. But that's that. The natural conclusion is that the waskelly Chinese must have beaten them up there and smuggled Mallory and Irvines corpses off the mountain (past the hoardes of tourists no less) and were keeping the artefacts in a secret bunker somewhere.

The fact is, these guys just really wanted to climb Mt Everest, and Mark may have told on himself more than he planned to in the chapter where he talked about Mt Midlife Crisis and how 50 year old men are flocking to the mountain. It is a fabulously entertaining book in the way of all travelogues where no one does what they set out to do and everything goes terribly wrong.

[Tanja Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine story of Everest, intertwining the history of the 1924 attempt by Mallory and Irvine with the present day attempt to find the latter.

I would never ever consider Mount Everest even if I had the money and the despite it being there. For one thing, I have zero required experienced and for another I value my life. I still enjoy reading about it though and this is a great story!

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

these people are sick!! sick I tell you

further/updated review: this is a fun and engaging book about everest. if you have a weird pet everest obsession (not that we know anyone like that), it will scratch that itch, otherwise it's skipable. it suffers from not having a strong point of view. the author in interested in a mystery, he likes mountains, he thinks everest is dangerous, he wants to summit. very readable, but doesn't dig in (like crampons? get it) as deep as it could

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like some other reviews, I agree that Mark Synnott wasn't entirely certain what this book was going to be - the story of Mallory and Irvine's summit? the search for Irvine? his own quest for the Everest summit? history of climbing Everest? It ends up as all of that along with a bit of geopolitical consideration, conspiracy theory, and ... I'll say mystery to avoid being too spoilery.

To touch on the geopolitical - "[...] the Chinese have never officially acknowledged the British first ascent of Everest in May of 1953." and the rumors about what happened to Irvine and the camera are intriguing but also I found myself wondering why/how these did not surface prior to the trip. Also, did they really NOT tell the Sherpas they hired what their original purpose was (not to summit but to search)?

The book is a very engaging read, and for me, at times an infuriating one - not at the author but that he's bringing to light those things that I think are bad about Everest climbs - the seeming exploitation and lack of value placed on the Sherpas and their contribution to the climbs and the trash (and therefore disrespect) the people leave behind -- "garbage heap laid out before me looked more like a Third World landfill than the staging point below the most glorious summit in the world. There was so much trash strewn about the camp, I could barely see the ground underneath."

"'The whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top. They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress.' Hillary said that on his expedition in 1953, it would have been absolutely unthinkable to leave someone 'lying under a rock to die.' Modern Everest climbers, he said, have completely lost sight of what was important.'" (Edmund Hillary, New Zealand Hearld)

I get it, it becomes about one's own survival. But even the author mentions stepping over/around no less than 6 bodies on his way to the summit. How are we really okay with this as human beings? I admit I don't understand the desire to climb Everest (or the other equally or more daunting peaks) and I definitely don't understand how to step over the dead or dying with nonchalance. That's perhaps why these sorts of books about extreme sports fascinate me - trying to understand what drives those who do.

But anywho... the difference in the climbing gear in the 1920's and to date is striking. How did they not just freeze to death on arrival? There's a great set of photos in the back of the book and more to be found on Google from the Mallory expedition, and while you're at it - Google Renan Ozturk and check out his AMAZING AMAZING work.

The book flips back and forth in comparison to the author's climb and what was determined from an extensively researched set of letters, diaries, and interviews of what is believed to have been Mallory and Irvine's climb. It digresses at times into the stories of other climbers that were on Everest that same year (and their stories of survival or not) that add interest but again are what makes it seem to veer from the purpose. By the way, the reference sources in this book are very impressive. Synnott did a vast amount of research.

Admittedly, I did end up searching the internet for answers to some of the questions before the end of the book as the suspense was getting to me, but that didn't at all make the book less interesting.

Definitely a good read to add to your list if you like Everest or climbing stories. I would also highly, highly recommend checking out the movie Sherpa (which gets a mention in the book). http://sherpafilm.com/

[Franziska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read many books about people who climbed/ wanted to climb Everest. But this book definitely stands out. Why?
Mark Synnott is not your typical mountaineer who’s looking to stand on top of the world. Actually, climbing Everest has never been on his list. Instead, he was busy climbing big walls (Yosemite is his favorite playground).
But then he heard about this project to go and look for Sandy Irvine’s body. You know, this Irvine who attempted to climb Everest in 1924 together with Mallory. Mallory’s body has been found a couple of years ago but it didn’t provide any answer to the big question: did they summit?
It’s really a big question because it would mean that not Hillary and Norgay were the first who stood on top of the world (that was in 1953) but Mallory and Irvine who attempted to summit about 30 years earlier...

Synnott knows how to tell a story. I’ve learnt many new things about climbing Everest in general (especially about how the Chinese government controls any movement on the north side of the mountain), about people who have lost their lives on the mountain and also about people who (some miraculously) survived their adventure.
I’ve also learnt many new things about how the British tried to measure the world almost a 100 years ago, what their challenges were, which tools and clothes they used...

It might sound a bit like a nerd story but I think the book tells about one of the great adventures and unsolved mysteries of recent history. Mark Synnott has done his research very well. He also spoke to many people who dedicate(d) a large part of their life to climbing the mountain or researching the history of the early climbs. Nevertheless, it’s a well written book, almost a page turner. Go, read it!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

One of the great mysteries in the climbing world is whether or not Mallory & Irvine died on the way up or down Everest. In 1999, Mallory's body was found but no evidence could substantiate whether he'd made it to the top. Irvine still hasn't been found nor has the Kodak VPK camera which may have photographic proof. And having already read on the subject, I too am fascinated by the mystery.

The writer (Synnott) joins an expedition to search the mountain to solve the mystery. And as they're climbing the North Side (which is Tibet not Nepal) it means dealing w/China. I didn't know much about that so that was interesting.

This book gives the history of the area, the early explorers, background on the team and the description of that expedition. They're also aiming to use drones for filming of images so as to help with the search. I thought it was an interesting use of technology.

It was easy to tell that the writer had done extensive research and I thought he did a good job of reiterating concise details. (ie. thru other books cited, interviews, etc.)
Once the team is on the mountain, you get caught up on the stories of the other climbers. I thought the writer did a great job of summing up the details/experiences of the people who either died or were injured during the climbing season.

I'll have to admit with as much reading as I've done on the subject of various mountain climbs, I didn't know that area was referred to as "the third pole". (which is the reason for the title) So I learned about that.

The only negative is that it was a long book which meant it's not easily read in one sitting. But it was still a fascinating subject & I've learned things I didn't know.

[֍ elle ֍ · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there were things regarding the organization and structure of the book that I thought were sloppy, that ending earned the book another star. I was slack-jawed the entirety of the last ten pages. I think this book presents what may be the one conspiracy theory I’m willing to throw in on: I’ve been Irvine-pilled.

But seriously, the biggest problem I had with this book is that I don’t think it was very good at laying out its information in an orderly way. Because the book is less about the 1924 expedition than it is about the 2019 expedition to search for Andrew Irvine’s body, the later expedition is the one we follow chronologically, from its inception to its conclusion. That means that we jump back to the 1924 expedition rather haphazardly, making it hard to really develop a clear sense of what exactly happened then. Also, a different problem that contributed to my confusion is the author’s insistence on giving way too many people backstories. While I know, for example, that Cory Richards is a friend, we don’t really need him to get the main character treatment when he’s mentioned only four or five times after his introduction and the focus on him doesn’t really enrich what his ultimate action in the story is. With such confused messaging to the reader about who is and isn’t important, and what details about them are and aren’t important, it leads to a lot of index-consulting and back-page flipping as you run into another person that hasn’t been mentioned in 50 pages and that you’ve totally forgotten against all the other people you’re trying to keep straight.

Otherwise, a thoroughly enjoyable read — even if I was surprised at how much farting was in this book.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to summit Mt. Everest in 1953…or was he? Presented with new information about a possible first ascent in 1924, the author makes his first trip to Mt. Everest to investigate. The body of Sandy Irvine, who attempted Mt. Everest in 1924 with George Mallory, has never been found. With him might lie a camera with proof they made it to the summit of Mt. Everest 29 years prior to Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Synnott writes a compelling story that combines the 2019 season on Everest, historical attempts to climb Mt. Everest, and mountaineering culture as a whole. Although I personally enjoyed every aspect of the book, it is a long book and there are parts of the book where the lay reader may lose interest. For example, I had followed Cory Richards and Topo’s 2019 attempt at a never-before-climbed route, but the time spent discussing Richards’ troubled childhood seemed a little out of place in this book.

All in all, I highly recommend The Third Pole for fans of mountain climbing or who want to know “Why climb Everest?”

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite disappointed by this book. Its very readable and has some interesting sections, but in terms of an overall read its a mess. Ostensibly its about Synott and his search for Sandy Irvine and this fabled camera that could show whether Mallory and Irvine summited Everest way back in 1924, but, without spoiling it, it seems that whole expedition was a bit of a damp squib. Synott then had 200 more pages to fill as per his overall brief, and so seems to have just resorted to telling the stories of random mountaineers who were on Everest at the same time, or even just the backstories of people he meets in general. Theres no structure or sense to it, and the stories dont add to the main narrative. Sometimes they re 10 pages, sometimes they re only a few paragraphs. But to be honest if you want to read a compelling nonfic about Everest, just read Into Thin Air. This just feels like a book that was pitched and sold before the expedition happens, and was then hastily redrafted to account for a trip that didnt quite pan out.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know that I am never going to climb Everest but this well researched and quite gripping book made the back of my head tingle a bit with a desire to experience it. Not. Synnott did this climb to find a camera -and perhaps the body- of Andrew Irvine, who, along with George Mallory, may have summited in 1924. He's detailed both men's lives, as well as what is known about their efforts, but what made this different and more valuable for me was the information about the region. He examines not just the mountain but also the politics of the region. Best of all, the details about the climb, which was made during the infamous 2019 season. This is much more expansive than other books about climbing Everest and I learned a great deal. Synnott has a good way with building tension and his writing will pull you in and keep you turning the pages. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, Armchair adventurers will love this one.

[Lani · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me angry from start to finish. A hundred years of people traumatizing themselves, their families, and importantly their native guides for what? This author showed little compassion for his guides when he not only insisted they continue despite expert opinions not to, but when they shared worries of being blacklisted for this expedition. He put both their lives and their livelihoods at risk and for what? They failed their mission and barely got out alive. There was no great discovery from this endeavor, just permanent injury, possible death, strain on multiple marriages, and a waste of seven figures investment. 

No regard is shown for the guides, porters, and Sherpas exploited for the glory of rich people. No regard for the corpses littering the mountainside. At one point the author goes oh lol we can navigate by that dead guy over there. Everest climbers lose their grip on reality and humanity in exchange for their own pride. 

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know why books about climbing the 8000 meter peaks fascinate me. It’s not just Everest, but all of those crazy high mountains. I certainly don’t want to do it myself. I thought this book was so interesting, especially for anyone who has read Into Thin Air or Dark Summit as this expedition is from the north side of Everest starting in Tibet. They were looking for Sandy Irving’s remains in addition to trying to summit. I didn’t realize until after I started reading, but I already knew how their expedition turned out because I had watched the National Geographic program on Disney+ a while back. Still, there is so much more in the book: history, politics, ethics, to name a few. I loved it.