Cathy O'Dowd

Cathy O'Dowd is the first woman in the world to climb the world's highest mountain from both its north and south sides. Her first ascent of Everest happened in the midst of the chaotic events that form of the basis of the 'true story' behind the Hollywood movie Everest.

Cathy's most challenging Himalayan epic was as part of a team attempting a new route on an 8000 metre peak. Although Cathy herself did not reach the summit, two of her teammates did, doing the first ascent of Nanga Parbat via the Mazeno ridge, and winning the prestigious Piolet d'Or for their achievement. She has turned this experience into a fascinating interactive case-study of successful project execution of truly innovative goals.

Cathy, who grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, was completing her Masters degree in Journalism, when she saw a newspaper advert for a place on the 1st South African Everest Expedition. Six months later she became the first South African to summit Everest. Three years on she became the first woman in the world to climb the mountain from both sides. She has written a book about her Everest experiences, Just For The Love Of It.

The years she spent in the Himalaya were for her a degree 'in living'. The insights she discovered about herself, and about individuals and teams under intense stress in the face of overwhelming challenge, are ones she has been sharing with her corporate audiences ever since. Her stories touch on themes of importance to anyone trying to run successful projects and get the best out of people.

Cathy has been a professional speaker for nearly 25 years and has presented her message to companies in 45 countries on six continents. She is a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association of UK/Ireland, who have given her their highest award, the Professional Speaking Award of Excellence.

Cathy is actively involved with charities focused on female empowerment, notably the Rwenzori Women for Health project in Uganda, and the Voice of Women Foundation in Germany. She is also a jury member for the European Adventurer of the Year award.

She lives in Andorra, in the Pyrenees mountains, from where she pursues her speaking career, and explores the mountains of Europe. In her free time she does technical rock-climbing, ski-mountaineering and canyoning.

Both Cathy's 2020 expeditions have been indefinitely postponed, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. In the meantime she is enjoying local adventures in the Pyrenees, a summer of canyoning, an autumn of climbing, a winter of ski touring!