The Impossible Climb (Young Readers Adaptation)

Mark Synnott is a twenty-year member of the North Face Global Athlete team. He is a frequent contributor to National Geographic magazine and has written for Outside, Men's Journal, Rock and Ice, and Climbing. He is also an internationally certified mountain guide and a trainer for the pararescuemen of the United States Air Force. He lives in the Mt. Washington Valley of New Hampshire.Hampton Synnott lives in the moutains of New Hampshire with her family. She has spent the last twenty years working in sales for various companies in the ski, bike, fishing, and climbing industries in the United States and New Zealand. She loves nothing more than to travel with her family and divides her time between the mountains and the sea.

A middle grade adaptation of the adult bestseller that chronicles what The New York Times deemed "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever": Alex Honnold's free-solo ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.On June 3, 2017, as seen in the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, Alex Honnold achieved what most had written off as unattainable: a 3,000-foot vertical climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, without a rope or harness. At the time, only a few knew what he was attempting to do, but after topping out at 9:28 am, having spent just under four hours on this historic feat, author Mark Synnott broke the story for National Geographic and the world watched in awe.Now adapted for a younger audience, The Impossible Climb tells the gripping story of how a quiet kid from Sacramento, California, grew up to capture the attention of the entire globe by redefining the limits of human potential through hard work, discipline, and a deep respect for the natural world.

OSCAR-WINNING DOCUMENTARY: Alex's monumental achievement received renewed publicity when Jimmy Chin's film on the event won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2019. Jimmy Chin is featured prominently in this book; young fans of the documentary will be clamoring to read this first-hand account and learn more about how Alex came to the sport as a kid.POPULARITY OF CLIMBING IS ON THE RISE: The popularity of climbing has exploded over the last two decades, thanks in part to the rise of climbing gyms across the country and social media's ability to broadcast these historic feats around the world. There are now over 400 climbing gyms across the United States and Canada, most of which serve kids by organizing birthday parties and hosting competitive youth programs throughout the year. Famous climbs like Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson's ascent of the Dawn Wall in Yosemite in 2015 received over 13 billion social media impressions over several months, giving this book a huge audience to reach.WELL-CONNECTED AUTHOR: Mark Synnott is extremely well connected in the climbing/mountaineering and journalism world. He regularly contributes to National Geographic and has close relationships with some of the best climbers in the world. Mark is ready to leverage his connections as well as get out there and talk to kids at school visits and other promotional events.NOTHING LIKE THIS IN THE MARKET: Adaptations of sports-related, adult narrative nonfiction, like The Boys in the Boat, do extremely well in the children's books marketplace. These adaptations are few and far between, and while there are several nonfiction books on climbing for adults, there isn't currently anything for young readers on the topic. The combination of a high-stakes, dramatic narrative and the pacey writing of sports journalism is sure to be a hit amongst young readers, especially boys!