The Third Pole

I'm struck by the thought that our greatest endeavours are less about what we set out to do than what we bring back.

I watched Lost on Everest (2020) and felt underwhelmed. The premise of what National Geographic paid for in a documentary was a bust but the film wasn't without merit and praise, but the lack of a payoff was a sore spot. Had a camera been recovered and history was rewritten then the documentary would have been something else, but here we are.

Starting Synnott's version of this expedition I wondered how much value I would get out of another tale of the same story. I know the end result and the National Geographic documentary covered the highlights like the detailed satellite imagery, drone usage and the Yellow Band; what could this story add?

This book is called The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest. The mystery part National Geographic summarized elegantly, but obsession and death required more attention and care to cover.

The first portion of the book I felt that the book would add nothing further and be an exhaustive retelling of the documentary. It's not.

It's obvious that Synnott is methodical in his research and devotion to history. There is great lengths spent on first hand research, information gathered on early expeditions (not just in the Himalayans), challenges that intrepid adventurers faced, and one facet I hadn't considered: geopolitical ramifications. This story goes in to topics, and depths, I had not encountered before.

What if history was rewritten and the British summited first? Would national pride stand for admission that the Chinese weren't first? Would the Chinese claim this was propaganda and hide the truth? What if the truth is known and the Chinese have recovered the evidence and locked it up?

As much as the British claimed to admire their "coolies," the colonial mindset was so deeply baked into their worldview that they never fully acknowledged the extent to which they were exploiting these men.

Synnott also takes great care in discussing the use of labour on the mountain, how Colonialism impacted Sherpas and the shift away from Western run expeditions. I have read and watched numerous stories about Everest but none compare to the thorough and inquisitive nature that Synnott has expressed. His story telling is harrowing and his first hand discussion of the 2019 expedition solidified the fact how difficult Everest is.

"Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality."

Mark and his team are also in a unique position to tell the story of the 2019 viral photo about The Day Everest Broke. Information on climbers of that day are interspersed with Mark's own experiences, and in some situations, the sad end that those climbers met.

Most often, what the climber clearly wants, in return for all the time, effort, and money they've invested, is to stand on the summit. The consolation prize of having done a good deed isn't worth the many tens of thousands of dollars, months of training, and untold hours spent daydreaming about this moment. The supporting rationalizations follow: They're too far gone, there's nothing much I do for them anyway, it's their own stupid fault they didn't turn back when they should have.

But it's also true that most of the people who find themselves facing this moral dilemma will have nothing in their life experience to call upon as a model for making the right decision.

As an armchair mountaineer I am not sure I have read a story that goes in to such detail of "summit fever" that Synnott does. The moral challenges a climber faces when they pass a body on the fixed line may be given a passing remark in other stories but Synnott takes time to dive in to this. How do you balance your morals with a life long goal? There are so many passages and quotes that made me pause and appreciate how much of a razor thin line climbers and Sherpas face at high elevation.

The Third Pole may have started off on questionable terms but by the end I was riveted with his story telling, history lessons and philosophical journey he took me on.

I'm fortunate that my own Everest journey has come to an end, that my infatuation with the top of the world lasted less than a year, that I'm not haunted by a sense of unfinished business.