El Capitan

"El Capitan" traces the mountain's unique history and recounts the vertical adventures had there, from Warren Harding's 45-day siege in 1958 up through the recent speed climbs of less than five hours. Accompanied by 36 moody duotones, this book captures the essence of big-wall climbing.

Rooted in the medieval ballad tradition, it concerns a madcap series of mistaken identities and romantic misadventures that conclude in a merry free-for-all.

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INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES MONTHLY BESTSELLER One of the 10 Best Books of March, Paste Magazine A deeply reported insider perspective of Alex Honnold’s historic achievement and the culture and history of climbing. “One of the most compelling accounts of a climb and the climbing ethos that I've ever read.”—Sebastian Junger In Mark Synnott’s unique window on the ethos of climbing, his friend Alex Honnold’s astonishing free solo ascent of El Capitan’s 3,000 feet of sheer granite is the central act. When Honnold topped out at 9:28 A.M. on June 3, 2017, having spent fewer than four hours on his historic ascent, the world gave a collective gasp. The New York Times described it as “one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever.” Synnott’s personal history of his own obsession with climbing since he was a teenager—through professional climbing triumphs and defeats, and the dilemmas they render—makes this a deeply reported, enchanting revelation about living life to the fullest. What are we doing if not an impossible climb? Synnott delves into a raggedy culture that emerged decades earlier during Yosemite’s Golden Age, when pioneering climbers like Royal Robbins and Warren Harding invented the sport that Honnold would turn on its ear. Painting an authentic, wry portrait of climbing history and profiling Yosemite heroes and the harlequin tribes of climbers known as the Stonemasters and the Stone Monkeys, Synnott weaves in his own experiences with poignant insight and wit: tensions burst on the mile-high northwest face of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower; fellow climber Jimmy Chin miraculously persuades an official in the Borneo jungle to allow Honnold’s first foreign expedition, led by Synnott, to continue; armed bandits accost the same trio at the foot of a tower in the Chad desert . . . The Impossible Climb is an emotional drama driven by people exploring the limits of human potential and seeking a perfect, choreographed dance with nature. Honnold dared far beyond the ordinary, beyond any climber in history. But this story of sublime heights is really about all of us. Who doesn’t need to face down fear and make the most of the time we have?

As Warren Harding hammered in the last bolt then staggered over the rim, it was not at all clear to him who was conqueror and who was conquered, recalling that El Cap seemed to be in much better condition than he was.The last bolt marked the conclusion of a venture that had begun in July, 1957. Mark Powell, Bill "Dolt" Feuerer and Warren had met in Yosemite Valley, intending to make an attempt on the North Face of Half Dome. They discovered that an excellent team of climbers from southern California was already at work on it, having the situation well in hand. In their disappointment, they became a bit rash, deciding to "have a go" at El Cap.

A family from Ecuador lands in Queens, New York, seeking to find the American Dream. They came for opportunity and find that "opportunity" is often a set of choices. For the two oldest brothers, these choices take them on different paths. El Capitan is a fictional story, but it is a slice of the real America, a place of immigrants past and present - a topic ever more so relevant. Rio, the middle son finds his way with the help of an aging group of former futbol (soccer) professionals and others like his English literature teacher, his coach and his best friend Charlie Brown. Rodrigo, the older brother chooses differently and takes the first step of many to find that there is no escape. The allure of easy money in the drug business is Rodrigo's addiction - that like the narcotic he peddles extracts a heavy price. The story is filled with other "stories", the many small tales of life that the profis tell their young prodigy so he can see his path more clearly - first in adolescence and for the later stages of his life. Rio finds acceptance in his high school soccer team where talent, discipline and teamwork is the lesson of how to succeed. And there is an American girl - Kathy Robinson - the powerful emotion of first love - of teenagers. The climax is unexpectedly like what is happening in the news today - moments of profound joy in the challenge and the victory of sports thrown to the ground when violence comes to visit - the price of bad choices. There is also a young brother at the whipsaw end of the struggles with his older siblings. The author says that this books is about a place called "in between" where the young of other places come to America (or to any new place) to find that they have one foot in the culture of their parents and the other in the American culture. And they find that they belong to neither one. Finding their way out of that "in between" place is maybe as simple as acceptance and accepting - the act of giving and taking, learning and being willing to rethink the walls we build for ourselves. This is what the protagonist Rio discovers along the way, shaping his young life as an American boy and for a future in the great stadiums of the world where soccer (or futbol) is played and glory is found with other teammates.