Cathy O'Dowd

Cathy O'Dowd (born in 1969) is a South African rock climber, mountaineer, author and motivational speaker, famous for being the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both south (25 May, 1996) and north sides (29 May, 1999). [http://www.econ-referentenagentur.de/index.php?id=373&name=O'Dowd&vorname=Cathy Cathy O'Dowd - Extrembergsteigerin ] ] [http://www.everestnews.com/history/women.htm]

Cathy O’Dowd, grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, has climbed since her university days. At 21 she took part in her first mountain expedition, to the Ruwenzori in central Africa. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/campaigns/everest/everestprofiles.xml Profile - Telegraph ] ]

Everest - Southern route

Towards the end of 1995, she was finishing a Masters degree in Media Studies at Rhodes University when she applied for a place on the First South African Everest Expedition, and was selected to join the expedition. The team followed the route made famous by Edmund Hillary. Despite being the novice on the team, she reached the summit on 25 May, 1996. It was, however, a harsh introduction, as 37 year-old British team-member and photographer Bruce Herrod died on the descent. [ [http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200309/200309_survivors_6.html The Survivors (Cont.) | Outside Online ] ] [ [http://www.trekinfo.com/news/news7b.html News From Nepal - Latest Issue ] ] Two weeks earlier 6 members of a large party, as well as their experienced guides, American Scott Fischer and the New Zealander Rob Hall, had succumbed to the intense cold of a severe blizzard on their descent from the summit. [ [http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer | Outside Online ] ] [ [http://classic.mountainzone.com/climbing/fischer/letters.html MountainZone.com | Guides from the 1996 Everest Tragedy Exchange Their Views of the Deadly Climb in an Open Forum on The Mountain Zone ] ]

Everest - Northern route

In 1998 she attempted the difficult north side of Everest, where George Mallory had disappeared in 1924. Her attempt ended hours from the summit when she came across Francys 'Fran' Arsentiev, a dying American woman. After finding that this woman was beyond help, O'Dowd decided to turn around and descend. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3963348,00.html Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search ] ] [ [http://www.cindyloudale.com/cathyodowd.htm Cindy-Lou Dale | Writer, Reporter & Photo-Journalist ] ] In 1999 she returned, and on this occasion succeeded, becoming the first woman in the world to climb Everest from both north and south sides. In 2000 she became the fourth woman to climb Lhotse, the world's fourth highest mountain.

Everest - Eastern route

In 2003 she made a bold but unsuccessful attempt at a new route up the notorious east face of Everest.

Other expeditions

In the spring of 2004 she joined British woman Rona Cant and Norwegian Per-Thore-Hansen on a dog-sled expedition of 650km through the remote wastes of the Norwegian Arctic, from Styggedalen to Nordkapp, the most northerly point in Europe. [ [http://www.ronacant.com/archive/nordkapp/The%20Team%20-%20Nordkapp%202004.htm The Team - Nordkapp 2004 ] ]

In the summer of 2005 she climbed the technically demanding buttresses of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.

Cathy O'Dowd has climbed mountains across southern and central Africa, in South America, in the Alps and in the Himalaya. She remains an active mountaineer, rock-climber and skier.

She married the First South African Everest Expedition leader Ian Woodall in 2001 and is currently living in Andorra in the Pyrenees. [ [http://www.dispatch.co.za/2001/11/27/easterncape/ANINE.HTM anine ] ]

Books

*"Everest: Free To Decide" - Cathy O'Dowd & Ian Woodall (Struik Publishers 1998) ISBN 1-86872-101-9
*"Just for the love of it" - Cathy O'Dowd (Free To Decide Publishers 2001) ISBN 0-620-24782-7

External links

* [http://www.cathyodowd.com/ Cathy O'Dowd Official Website]
* [http://www.cindyloudale.com/cathyodowd.htm Climbing Magazine interview]
* [http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html Jon Krakauer's account of 1996 disaster]

References