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

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 984 ratings

Price: 17.72

Last update: 07-08-2024


Top reviews from the United States

???? Lynne E.
5.0 out of 5 stars Page-Turner Account of Everest Expedition to Find Irvine’s Body
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2021
I was genuinely sorry the reach the end of THE THIRD POLE; MYSTERY, OBSESSION, AND DEATH ON MOUNT EVEREST. Reading the book was a total escapist experience--it took me into Tibet, into Nepal, and right up onto the mountain (Mt. Everest) with the author.

A well-researched documentary, the book is also a genuine page-turner. Dramatic accounts of real events that occurred on historical Everest expeditions (especially the disastrous 1924 British expedition) are skillfully interwoven with the equally dramatic account of the author’s own 2019 expedition to find the long-missing body of George Mallory’s climbing partner, Sandy Irvine.

Importantly, the author delivers on his promise to unravel the mystery of what really happened to Mallory and Irvine. Although the answer remains speculative--as it probably always will, given the political situation that exists in the Himalayan region--the reader is left with a pretty good idea of what became of Irvine. Also, the author makes a good case for the idea that Mallory and Irvine actually summited Everest, only to lose their lives on the descent.

After reading the book, it remains a mystery to me, why anyone would want to pay tens of thousands of dollars to climb today’s Everest. Although today’s guided expeditions nearly guarantee that every client will reach the summit, the mountain continues to kill people every year (icefalls, avalanches, high winds, rockfalls), and a certain percentage of climbers die each year from high-altitude-related causes (sudden unexplained death, falls, fatigue, lack of oxygen, cold).

The maps and photographs are excellent aids for armchair mountaineers like myself. On a Kindle, the maps are awkward to enlarge, and the photographs are in black and white so that much of the detail is lost. On an iPad, the exact same maps are much easier to use, and the photographs are in full color so that all the details come out with finger-pinch enlarging.
paul c
4.0 out of 5 stars Well written.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021
Well written. Detailed. Actual climbers will enjoy it more than arm chair readers like me.
BooksAreWings
5.0 out of 5 stars Great and gripping read
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2021
Wonderful book about the follow-up quest (after the discovery of George Mallory's body on Everest in the late 90s) to find the body of his companion, Sandy Irvine....and possibly his camera, which might answer the question - did Mallory and Irvine summit Everest in 1924? Were they, perhaps, the first, before Hillary?

The characters here are people that adventure fans will know from Instagram - climbers, filmmakers, adventurers. It is a wonderful and truthful view into their lives.

As with all great Everest books, the difficulty of this climb and the many issues surrounding any Everest expedition are laid out well and the reader feels as if he/she were there on the mountain.

The team faces many challenges and many temptations, including the fact that they do not intend to summit, yet....Everest calls, ego calls, personal need for achievement calls - and they must struggle to put their mission above the relentless call of the mountain. This part is written so truthfully that we feel the conflict - among team members and internally - it is almost like being there.

I would give 4.5 stars, as this is certainly not a perfect book and there are certainly better books about Everest, but this one is lovely and human, and the quest is very special. A great read.
w
5.0 out of 5 stars The more things change…
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2021
The seductive power of insatiable curiosity. Temptation. Love. Fidelity. The insecurities that drive nationalism and geo-politics. Greed. The yin and yang of ego. Folly. Arrogance. Racial/social superiority. Colonial legacies. Income inequality. Environmental degradation. Ambition. Compromise. The limits of human compassion. Grit. Determination. Skill. Planning. Preparation. Technology. Community. Teamwork. A should read on so many levels: better than almost any oversimplified management book I’ve ever read; great for the religious; a tale of suspense and survival. Recounts a 2019 adventure about finding the body of Sandy Irvine and physical evidence that he and George Mallory [whose body was found in 1999] and thus the British, were indeed the first to reach the summit of Everest in 1924. Well researched, told with journalistic flair but never going down the rabbit hole of bad taste.

NOTE: Not a book about the technical aspects of mountain climbing. He sketches it in and compares it to what's known today making achievements of the past even more remarkable, but he pitches the book to those who are not nor ever will be climbers. Have read this book twice now. Elegiac.
Julie Merilatt
5.0 out of 5 stars Tragedy & Triumph
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2022
There was so much to love about this book, especially considering there were three different narratives at play. 1) The history of the 1924 summit attempt by George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. 2) The author and his team’s quest to recover Irvine’s body and hopefully his camera to determine whether they were actually successfully summited. 3) The tragedy of so many deaths on the mountain during the 2019 climbing season because of overcrowding. I enjoyed Synnott’s story-telling style and first-person experience. I liked that he gave the statistics for survival on Everest. In all the mountaineering books I’ve read, this was the first time I’d ever seen it broken down so bluntly. And it was the first time I have heard it referred to as “Mount Mid-Life-Crisis,” which is a testament to why 2019 was a particularly dangerous year. “On Everest… the number of climbers attempting the mountain increases in inverse proportion to the general level of competence.”

In addition to witnessing catastrophe on the mountain, Synnott also recalled some remarkable survival stories (Kam!). I was intrigued by the search for Irvine, the idea that he and Mallory’s summit attempt was successful, and that there could be proof of that on a roll of nearly 100-year-old film. It was a fantastic adventure with a dose of history, tragedy, and triumph.
GI
4.0 out of 5 stars The search for Mallory and Irvine
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2024
Liked the adventure aspects and disliked large portion of other than search stories
This book is not for adventure readers

Best Sellers in

 
 

That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America's Public Lands

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3711
17.5
 
 

For the Glory: Eric Liddell's Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 678
17.72
 
 

Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Ma

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1086
30.7
 
 

Shut Up and Run: How to Get Up, Lace Up, and Sweat with Swagger

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1380
22.29
 
 

The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1567
16.4
 
 

Business Is About to Pick Up!: 50 Years of Wrestling in 50 Unforgettable Calls

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 78
17.46
 
 

The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 243
21.66
 
 

The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 171
21.83