Inspect The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, And Death On Mount Everest Expressed By Mark Synnott Released As Ebook

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 Irvines body might lie and finds that its 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 its unclear from the writing why Synnott wasnt aware of these rumors before, If theyre 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 didnt find enough unique material to warrant a higher review.
Additionally, Synnotts 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 hes cool, right bro Hes totally over it” seemed dubious to me.

In short, not my favorite mountaineering adventure book, There are better books on the topic available, unless youre specifically interested in the potential Mallory and Irvine first ascent.
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 theseason, 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.
  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, Rockclimbers, cliffhangers, freeclimbers, soloclimbers, indoorsportsclimbing, outdoorbouldering, 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,stars. Absolutely riveting. 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 inwhen 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 theexpedition 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.
If youre a lover of nonfiction books about mountaineering and exploring and an overall adventure junkie like me, this is one of the better stories youll read.
Told from the perspective of an expedition team whose primary interest was in finding “Sandy” Irvines body on Everest, but which caught summit fever like so many others while in the shadow of the highest mountain on Earth, its a riveting read.
The team had technology and tools that provided them with good likelihood of success of discovering the British explorers 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, as well as theexpedition when George Mallorys body was found on the northeast ridge of Everest.
The book captures the mood of the mountain inwhen hundreds of peoplein 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.
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