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

This is definitely a page-turner of a book, especially as I sit in my cozy warm house and wonder how anyone can possibly withstand what happens in an effort to climb Mt. Everest, even with a different purpose in mind that just the effort to reach the summit. Synnott becomes part of a major search for the 1924 British attempt in 1924---did Mallory and Irvine ever actually reach the top? The historical descriptions along with Synnott's current day ones make for a more than exciting...or should I say terrifying--tale! Of course we know Synnott made it back home in order to write this book but it is quite something to read the all the details of such an endeavor.

Held my interest throughout, even though mountain climbing is not really an interest. The “mystery “ at the center, with the frequent references back to earlier climbing days were interspersed with the author’s current climb. The imperialistic underpinning of Everest climbs taints his narrative as well, somehow I didn’t believe his protestations about caring wether or not he ruined the sherpas livelihoods.

I have a mild obsession with Mount Everest history and the 1924 expedition in particular, so I was excited to read this book. The author clearly has plenty of interest in this subject as well, with his narrative of preparing for and then climbing Everest in 2019 interspersed with historical details about early Everest expeditions and the science of mountaineering. Of course, the later half of the book deals with the now-famous 2019 Everest season when crowding possibly contributed to multiple deaths on the mountain. I appreciated the author's attempt to place these more recent events in the context of Mount Everest history and climbing - important context I often feel is missing from news coverage. I also found the author's thoughts and show more insights into the long-standing Mallory and Irvine mystery interesting, but by no means is this mystery laid to rest. show less

This was a very interesting book that deserves a solid 3.5 stars. It kept me interested and is probably about as "beach read" as I get (easy to read, lots of intrigue, long waiting list at the library).

I had read Into Thin Air several years ago, and I agree with other commenters that this book makes a good "sequel" if you will. There are a lot of poignant discussions in this book that weighed on me, especially on the topic of humans dying, being left for dead, being walked around, being passed by, and then remaining on the mountain as corpses after they pass away. Wow.

I thought about a lot of parallels with flying. We are trained to go through risk management checklists before flying. One of the indirect causes of many accidents and show more incidents in aviation is "get-there-itis." When pilots are so obsessed with getting to their destination that they fly through terrible weather, they don't think about other alternatives, and sometimes die as a result. I think a lot of the climbers who are so focused on the summit similarly suffer from "get-there-itis."

Why this book doesn't get more stars is because of the narrative structure. Yes it was interesting, but I thought that EVERY chapter being: lead-up to something interesting -> completely change topics to explore something historical until you've completely forgotten the lead-up you just read -> pivot again and discuss the lead-up, whose resolution is invariably anti-climatic. It was really kind of an exhausting way to read a book and I literally rolled my eyes every time the author did it, which was often.

By the end of the book, you're not surprised that the author and his expedition comes up empty-handed. (I mean, if they'd found the camera, those pictures for sure would have been in the glossy photo inset, right?) The whole expedition came off, to me, as an indulgence of a bunch of relatively well-off and well-connected white men. show less

This is both a first person account of an Everest expedition and a recounting of the first attempts to climb Everest which were made by the British in the 1920’s, culminating in the death of George Mallory and Andrew Irving somewhere near the peak in 1924. Synnott is a gifted writer and vividly conveys his own experience as well as even handedly describing the mystery about whether Mallory and Irving reached the summit before their deaths in 1924, possibly becoming the first to climb Everest.

I’m a sucker for adventure stories, especially to nearly inaccessible places. That’s why this book interested me.The story of Sandy Irvine and the attempt to find him and his camera were also intriguing. Irvine’s camera would, presumably, have proven that he and fellow Brit George Mallory were the first to reach the peak of the highest point on earth in 1924. As it is, the Chinese expedition in 1960 claims that feat, although there is no photographic or other proof of that. The purpose of this expedition, mostly funded by National Geographic, was to once and for all prove that the two British mountain climbers were, in fact, the first to reach the peak. I won’t ruin the story for anyone reading this by revealing what was found show more and what it proved. Although there is much to be said about Everest and the history of the climbs up its peak, I do think this book was probably 100 pages longer than it needed to be.That said, it’s only fair to point out that many of those pages are devoted to copious notes and an excellent index for anyone interested in using either. I wish footnotes were placed as links in the text to take the reader directly to notes as he or she reads. By the end of the book there isn’t much incentive to explore the notes when they are grouped at the end of the book as they were. Overall, this was a well written and interesting story. show less

Interesting and informative

Not really on the same level as "Into Thin Air" but still a well written and interesting account about Everest's North Side routes, camps and history.