A summit with Synnott
Will McGuinness, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News
Acclaimed climber Mark Synnott spoke to a crowd gathered in the basement of the Campus Center of his experience that brought him out of rural Jackson, N.H., and on top of the largest rock walls on Earth in a presentation titled "Climbing Round the World" held last night by the University of Massachusetts Outing Club. But after the presentation, he sat down for an interview with the Daily Collegian.
A graduate from Vermont's Middlebury College in 1993, Synnott is known throughout the climbing world for his prowess in climbing the sheerest rock faces and is equally adept in both ice and rock climbing.
While classmates at Middlebury had been recruited by investment bankers enticing students south to New York, Synnott had only one passion for which he was ready to go anywhere.
He said that from an early age, his main goal was to climb, and he later became a carpenter to support his roaming lifestyle. Three years after graduating from Middlebury, Synnott spent 39 days living in the shadow of the 4,700 ft. Polar Sun Spire on Baffin Island, Canada, an event he said dwarfed his preconceived notion of self. The experience changed his outlook on life, but his assumed life direction was not only augmented but became clearer - up.
"I was coming back from Baffin Island and was kind of depressed with the idea of going back to carpentry and construction. Up until then, I'd been using carpentry as a way to go climbing. I'd work really hard for three months and take a few months off," he said.
But coming back from the island, Synnott realized he could support both himself and his passion by creating slide show presentations and touring with them.
This had been his version of life from the first National Geographic he was lost in.
"I kind of just looked at that photograph and told myself that I was going to climb it," he said. "And I guess that's the difference between a reader and an explorer. They look at it and say, 'wow it must be a great view from up there,' explorers find a way to get up there themselves."
A graduate from Vermont's Middlebury College in 1993, Synnott is known throughout the climbing world for his prowess in climbing the sheerest rock faces and is equally adept in both ice and rock climbing.
While classmates at Middlebury had been recruited by investment bankers enticing students south to New York, Synnott had only one passion for which he was ready to go anywhere.
He said that from an early age, his main goal was to climb, and he later became a carpenter to support his roaming lifestyle. Three years after graduating from Middlebury, Synnott spent 39 days living in the shadow of the 4,700 ft. Polar Sun Spire on Baffin Island, Canada, an event he said dwarfed his preconceived notion of self. The experience changed his outlook on life, but his assumed life direction was not only augmented but became clearer - up.
"I was coming back from Baffin Island and was kind of depressed with the idea of going back to carpentry and construction. Up until then, I'd been using carpentry as a way to go climbing. I'd work really hard for three months and take a few months off," he said.
But coming back from the island, Synnott realized he could support both himself and his passion by creating slide show presentations and touring with them.
This had been his version of life from the first National Geographic he was lost in.
"I kind of just looked at that photograph and told myself that I was going to climb it," he said. "And I guess that's the difference between a reader and an explorer. They look at it and say, 'wow it must be a great view from up there,' explorers find a way to get up there themselves."
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