In the summer of 2022, American climber and author Mark Synnott led a 6,736-mile expedition through the Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Arctic. Beginning in Nuuk, Greenland, and ending in Nome, Alaska, the 112-day voyage retraced the historic journey of British explorer Sir John Franklin, who disappeared with 128 men during an attempt to navigate the passage in the 1840s. Synnott’s objective was to investigate the unsolved mystery of the Franklin expedition by anchoring in the same locations and observing the Arctic landscape firsthand. The project, supported by National Geographic, was both a scientific exploration and a tribute to one of the greatest enigmas in polar history.

The journey was documented in Synnott’s 2023 book, Into the Ice, which combines travel writing, historical research, and personal reflection. While the narrative occasionally shifts into academic analysis, the expedition’s dramatic elements are visually captured in the National Geographic documentary Explorer: Lost in the Arctic. According to Canadian researcher Tom Gross, who has dedicated decades to uncovering the fate of Franklin’s crew, possible grave markers were spotted on King William Island in 2015, though their exact location remains unidentified. Despite the challenges of navigating harsh polar conditions and interpreting centuries-old clues, the expedition has contributed valuable insights into Arctic history and reignited global fascination with exploration, endurance, and the limits of human resilience in inhospitable environments.