Mark Synnott's hour and a half presentation last night at the Highlands Brewery brought to life in internal struggle between what a man feels he was born to do and the family he leaves behind to do it. Synnott made it clear from the first 15 minutes of his talk that climbing saved him from himself, that the focus and the drive and the sense of accomplishment he found on the rock face helped dispel the delinquency demons that haunted him while he was a young man. For the rest of the night, he attempted to show the audience how he's moved from blissful ignorance at his wife's desire for him to stop risking his life on the mountain, to finally realizing there was an issue there, to the current situation he's in now: struggling to find a balance with his life's calling on one side and his responsibilities as a father and husband on the other.
It's a fascinating problem that affects many of us no matter if we're risking our life every day during our job or just trying to provide for our family. Where is the balance between the things we live to do, and the loved ones we are responsible for? Synnott readily admits he doesn't know the answer to this question. As he ended his program, he stated that Perhaps it's a willingness to attempt to find answer that is the most important part of that relationship.
Either way, it's obvious that he has no plans to stop climbing any time soon. His love for Life on the Vertical is far too obvious. Through tales of his ill-begotten beginnings in the sport, running from cops through the forest after egging the police station, his life as a troglodyte (a hermit who lives in a cave) in Yosemite National Park and on to his climbs with legends like Alex Lowe, his passion for the climb shines through at all times.
All of us at Alpine Shop want to thank Mark, Jimmy Hopper, Ann Krcik and everyone else involved with The North Face Speaker Series for bringing last night's presentation to St. Louis. We look forward to next year's series!
All photos taken by Jimmy Hopper.
