Mark “Scrappy” Synnott @m_synnott!! Our captain, writer, keeper of the stories, tender of the wood stove and dreamer of big dreams. I was first influenced by Mark when I went to his slide show he gave at my college, speaking about the first ascent of Shipton Tower in the Himalaya, an El Cap sized pointy granite spire. It wasn’t just the badassery of the adventure that drew me in, it was Scrappy’s self deprecating humor and the gritty lifestyle details of the moments in between. I’m not sure how it happened but flash forward 10 years later and I was on actual expeditions with him - Everest, The Last Honey Hunter, Borneo, Chad, Oman, Tepui... He knew I had a sailing background and we always schemed about sailing from Maine to Greenland to climb a wall but this was much grander traverse, going from Maine to AK. A true window into the Arctic. I know this trip was more intense for Mark than anyone. It was his boat, the only fiberglass one attempting the North West Passage this season....and he was gripped out of his mind that we were going to get sliced in half by ice or trapped overwinter like the hundreds of sailers in the dozens of books he voraciously ingested. During our final interview he said... “Polar Sun (his boat) is a like member of my family, I don’t want to lose a loved one...” which really puts the gravity of his responsibility in perspective. The level of alertness you must maintain for months on end 24 hours around the clock has a way of wittingly you down. @m_synnott is still out there as I write this battling the Bering sea crux in AK, please check the live tacker in his profile and send good wishes! @thenorthface @expedition.studios @natgeo #TheArcticMystery expedition #SonyArtisan