On December 9, 2003, The Harvard Travellers Club welcomed member Mark Synnott who shared his adventures of climbing the tepuis of the Amazon Jungle.

** HIGH ADVENTURES **

In March and April of 2003, Mark Synnott and Jared Ogden, accompanied by a National Geographic Film Crew, established a first ascent on the “Prow” of Roraima – a remote sandstone rock tower in Guyana. Tepuis are the remnants of a sandstone plateau that once covered an area of roughly 200,000 square miles in the heart of the Amazon. Over millions of years, erosion wore down this plateau and left approximately 100 table-topped rock spires projecting out of the jungle. The sheer cliffs ringing them, range in size from 1000 – 3000 feet high and extend in some places for five miles or more. These giant cliffs have essentially isolated much of the plant and animal life on the tepui summits from the rest of the surrounding jungle. For scientists, the area is a veritable treasure trove with countless new species still waiting to be discovered. For climbers, the tepuis represent some of the biggest, yet least explored, rock walls on the planet.

Mark Synnott is well known in the climbing community for his many big wall and alpine climbing achievements. Equally comfortable on ice and mixed as he is on rock, he has climbed world wide, and in most places, has left his mark with significant ascents. When he is not in the mountains, Mark works with The North Face Research, Design and Development teams and lectures frequently, out of his home in Jackson, New Hampshire, on his life of adventure. Mark is a successful freelance photojournalist and is a Senior Contributing Editor to Climbing Magazine. His articles and photos have appeared in National Geographic as well as in most all of the climbing magazines.

Mark will recount for us his amazing adventure in the heart of the Amazon Jungle. Together with biologist Jesus Rivas, National Geographic correspondent Mareya Mayor, and a core group of Amerindian “joggers” Mark and his team spent close to two weeks just trying to reach the base of the Prow, the final, treacherous half mile requiring five days to cover. On the cliff, scientists took samples of the unique flora and fauna while Mark and Jared free climbed 5.11+ up the overhanging 1500 foot, tiger-striped wall, spending five nights in portaledges, battling tarantulas, scorpions, and monsoon rains. Mark calls this first ascent of the Scorpion Wall, “My all time best adventure”.