Everest: Free to Decide

Ian Woodall led the first South African Everest expedition in the spring of 1996. Criticized for his handling of the expedition, Woodall and fellow climber Cathy O’Dowd recount the hardship, joy and tragedy of the expedition. Despite what were viewed as long odds they did manage to summit, along with teammate Bruce Herrod. However, no mention is made of the initial turmoil which plagued the expedition, the team member dismissals, nor the strong condemnation which resulted. A required companion to this is Ken Vernon’s account of the earlier aspects of the expedition in ‘Ascent & Dissent’.