Author: Mark Synnott

Mark Synnott’s new book, The Impossible Climb — part memoir, part exploration of the climbing culture — gives context for Alex Honnold’s historic unroped ascent of El Capitan, Yosemite’s 3,000-foot slab of “glacier-polished granite” (A climb that was recently documented in the film Free Solo).

Synnott “lays out a series of generational portraits of climbing communities, chronicling the rise and fall of progressive dirtbag cultures along with the waves of ethical debate that have characterized each generation,” Blair Braverman said in a review published in The New York Times.

The Impossible Climb “is an accomplished portrait of two remarkable lives — but its major weakness, of both style and imagination, lies in Synnott’s depictions of women. Professional climbing is largely a man’s world, but rather than examine this dynamic as he does countless others, Synnott uses descriptions that further diminish and objectify the women he encounters,” said Braverman.

Another reviewer commented in goodreads.com: “Hats off to Mark for an interesting and well written read. As a climber who has played on many of the Yosemite faces mentioned in the book, I really appreciated the insider view.”