9/22/2021
Performances and Artists
Unlike most people, Mark Synnott has never been afraid of heights.
Even as a young child growing up in Massachusetts, Synnott says he was always looking for large distances above the ground that he could climb.
“I got a real charge out of it,” he recalls.
His first big ascents as a youth were climbing to the top of every house in his family’s neighborhood.
“I’d go up the drainpipe of each house, including homes that were very large Victorians,” he says.
The same thrill that Synnott got from scaling heights as a youth led him to become a big wall rock-climber, the type whose climbing routes typically require more than one day.
With a passion for seeking out unclimbed and unexplored rock walls, Synnott began tackling some of the world’s tallest and most forbidding walls.
His history-making ascents are now legendary, including conquering a 6,000-foot wall in Pakistan and a 4,700-foot wall on Baffin Island atop the Arctic Circle, the latter of which required spending 36 days in a portaledge (a hanging tent for rock climbers).
For the pioneering Synnott, however, that wasn’t enough.
In his National Geographic Live speaker event on November 5, “Mark Synnott: Life on the Vertical,” Synnott combines storytelling with inspiring photos and video to recount his ascents – and discuss how he applies his skills to help the environment worldwide.
“I wasn’t satisfied to just revel in the personal glory of being a big wall climber,” he explains. “I felt I had more purpose than that, and was meant to do something bigger.”
Going Vertical in the Name of Science
Recognizing that his climbing skills could lead to some of the world’s most inaccessible environments that hadn’t been explored yet, Synnott took his career in a new direction.
Teaming up with the National Geographic Society, Synnott began using his skills for groundbreaking scientific discoveries, with expeditions across the planet venturing into remote environments in search of rare species.
“There are still huge parts of the world that haven’t been explored,” he says. “We can learn so much from these places and the species that live there.”
Documenting such places before they are lost is what motivates Synnott.
“If we can put information into the collective consciousness, then there is a good chance that more people will decide that a place is special and that it needs to be protected,” he explains.
One of the places Synnott has traveled to in search of discovery is in the tepuis (table-top mountains) of South America, also known as “islands above the rainforest.”
The tepuis are a challenge for researchers, as they are home to a high number of new species that have yet to be described but aren’t easy to access. The tepuis are also under threat from diamond and gold mining, so the need to understand the region’s evolution and biology is urgent.
Along with field biologist Dr. Bruce Means, Synnott has traveled numerous times to the tepuis to learn more about the area and one of its inhabitants, the elusive pebble toad.
The pebble toad, found only in the tepuis, folds its limbs under its body, tucks its head in and tenses in a ball shape when it is threatened.
“If it’s on an incline and threatened by a predator, it will roll down the slope just like a bouncy ball,” says Synnott. “It’s amazing to see.”
In his upcoming Live speaker event, Synnott will share how he helped the septuagenarian Dr. Means lower into a dangerous sinkhole to look for the toad on one of their expeditions.
“Dr. Means shares the same spirit of adventure and exploration that I have,” says Synnott. “Together, we are finding some incredible stories that help to make the connection between exploration and the real benefit to the world.”
Valuable Lessons, Even for Non-Climbers
Synnott believes that every person can benefit from exploring things that are new to them.
During the pandemic when he couldn’t travel, he explored the woods around his house and found places he’d never been to before.
“New things are everywhere, if you just look,” he says.
Synnott says that climbers and non-climbers alike will be inspired by the stories he shares.
“My goal is to spark adventure, curiosity and the inspiration to dream bigger than the world right in front of you,” he says.