Cathy O'Dowd
Cathy O'Dowd is the first woman in the world to climb Everest from both sides. The South African climber, speaker and author has been on the mountain as the last minute ‘token woman’ team-member, and as an expedition leader. She has worked in partnership with a wide range of international teams, and has climbed on a team attempting a new route, the only expedition on the entire east face. She has survived the ‘worst storm in the history of Everest’ and she has faced warring team members as ego ran rampant. She has experienced both the thrill of the summit and the reality of failure, and has paid the ultimate price with the loss of fellow climbers. Cathy draws on this wide-ranging experience of teams under acute pressure attempting overwhelming challenges in her work with corporations. Her stories touch on themes of importance to anyone trying to get the best out of people. Cathy remains an active adventurer with two major expeditions coming up in 2012. http://cathyodowd.com
