Everest | 1996 S Col-SE Ridge

A S Africa expedition to Everest in 1996 via S Col-SE Ridge, led by Ian Woodall. Summit reached on 25th May 1996. 16 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 1740
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER96108
Peak ID EVER
Year 1996
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Col-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality S Africa
Leaders Ian Woodall
Sponsor Sunday Times Everest Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 245
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries UK
Approach Khumbu Valley
Basecamp Date 1996-04-05
Summit Date 1996-05-25
Summit Time 0951
Summit Days 50
Total Days 55
Termination Date 1996-05-30
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8849
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 13
Summit Members 3
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 5
Summit Hired 3
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(05/04,5350m),Dep(09/04,6000m),C2(16/04,6500m),C3(07/05,7300m),C4(09/05,7900m),Smt(25/05)
Route Notes Depot at top of Icefall C2 in Western Cwm C3 on Lhotse Face (lowest of all the teams) C4 at South Col. On 9 May summit team Woodall, O'Dowd, Herrod, Ang Dorje, Nawang, Pemba and Jangmu went to Col intending to go from C4 at midnight of 9/10th, but didn't leave col that night because afternoon of night storm came up and caught Herrod and Ian Woodall, who arrived tired and slightly late (c5:00 pm). So decided to stay extra day at Col. 10th at Col all day and did not communicate directly to other teams on Col; radio call at 6:00 pm to BC learned Hall on ridge with a client in dire trouble and his BC trying to organize some kind of rescue; Ian spent all night on radio handling all teams communication with BC. Hutchinson to go and bring in 2 "dead" people but Stewart said no permit to do so and next morning volunteered other help which was also refused - were not asked to lend radio at C4 for rescue coordination. Stayed at Col to keep radio open for others and then when ready to go down to C3 winds terrible and stayed night of 11th and down to C2 on 12th and BC 13th with Woodall big toes slightly frostbitten and not sure about going back up again; no room to criticize professionalism of Hall and Fischer, who stayed till last of their clients were coming down. Woodall, O'Dowd, Herrod, Deysel and 4 Sherpa climbers left BC on 18th for another summit bid; slept in C2, 19th rested at C2, 20th Ian O'Dowd and Herrod to C3 (Deysel stayed at C2 because not put on permit till mid-May due to lack of finances for her to go on permit so not acclimatized). 21st down to C2 because of winds. 22nd in C2 resting and 23rd to C3, 24th to C4, when 3 of Sherpas came up from C2 directly. 25th left C4 12:30 am (3 members and 3 Sherpas) and arrived on top: 9:51 Ian and Pemba, 10:10 O'Dowd, 10:40 Ang Dorje and Jangbu, Herrod at 5:00 pm. Descent in dark not problem in 3/4 moon and had started in dark. Ian at C4 4:00 pm, O'Dowd at 3:00 pm, Pemba earlier than Ian and other Sherpa between Ian and O'Dowd. Passed Herrod in their descent and his ascent when he was below S Summit; he radioed at 5:00 pm he was on top and sounded so pleased" to be there, says O'Dowd. Never heard from him again but think he fell between Summit and S Summit because he did not come on radio at 6:00 pm as should have. He had full suit on, plenty of oxygen with him and was cache for him on ridge. "He was superb mountaineer, if he wasn't I would not have invited him to be my main mate" on team. 26th to C2 by all survivors; Ian in mid-afternoon waiting for Harrod in clear day and so Herrod and Ian's oxygen ran out. 27th all to BC. "No comment" only answers on resignation/departure of February, De Klerk, Hackland [and Noble] from team. Sherpas: Jangbu, aka Lama Jangbu, Kharikhola, 32, atop Everest May 95 and Cho Oyu Oct 95 Ang Dorje, Tate, Khumbu, 43, no previous 8000ers Pemba Tenzee, Chatu, Solu, 34 (Jan 62), scaled Cho Oyu 27 Apr 1990 My interview with Jangbu (aka Lama Jangbu) Sherpa - 24 Sept 1996 The three summiting Sherpas with the South African Everest team in the spring of 1996 left C2 at 6:00 am on 24 May and climbed through C3, where the three members, Ian Woodall, Cathy O'Dowd and Bruce Herrod, had slept and all six reached C4 at the South Col together at 1:00 pm. All six started up from C4 at midnight, but not very far above the camp, Herrod said he was sick and turned back; his sickness delayed Jangbu and Ang Dorje, who then ascended behind Woodall, O'Dowd and Pemba. Very near the summit, Jangbu and Ang Dorje met the other three coming down. Pemba said they had been to the summit and had started their descent only 10 minutes there and taken pictures. Jangbu and Ang Dorje were on the top themselves at 10:30 am. There they found two metal poles standing up in the snow: the longer one had prayer flags and Sherpa scarves (khatas) tied to it, the other had something near the bottom with three pieces of glass in it [these are prisms placed there by Americans for measurements several years ago]. At 12:00 noon, when Jangbu and Ang Dorje had descended to a little below the south summit, they met Herrod, who had come up alone and who continued on toward the summit alone. Jangbu does not know whether Herrod actually reached the top. Letter from Ian Woods to Miss Hawley - 3 Sept 1996 Many people are deeply concerned that Woodall and O'Dowd may not have summited. No convincing photograph has been forthcoming despite repeated request from the climbing community. I attended their slide-show last week where a slide of the Chinese "triangle" was shown and presented as proof that this was the summit. A calendar of photograph has been produced with a "summit" photograph. I will endeavour to send this to you asap. I would be most grateful and appeal to you to find out from the Sherpas their side of the story (Woodall claims they summited with 3 Sherpas). I am sure we can trust their honesty, lets hope they did succeed, but from South African point of view we do need to clarify.
Accidents None except Herrod's death
Achievement -
Agency Sherpa Cooperative Trekking (SCT)
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2452450
Year 1996
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) s col-se ridge

Members

16 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Deshun Deysel F 1970 S Africa Climber Emmerdale, Johannesburg, S Africa Secondary school teacher Details Other expeditions
Bruce Herrod M 1958 UK Climber London, England Photographer & alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Catherine (Cathy) O'Dowd F 1968 S Africa Climber Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, S Africa Journalism lecturer Details Other expeditions
Ian Woodall M 1956 UK Leader Rivonia, Johannesburg, S Africa - Details Other expeditions
Ken Woodall M 1926 S Africa Climber Rivonia, Johannesburg, S Africa Engineer Details Other expeditions
Pemba Tenji (Pekka Tenja) Sherpa M 1963 Nepal H-A Worker Chattu, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Ang Dorje Sherpa M 1953 Nepal H-A Worker Tate, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Lama Jangbu Sherpa M 1964 Nepal H-A Worker Kharikhola, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Philip Woodall M - S Africa BC Manager S Africa - Details Other expeditions
Andrew (Andy) Hackland M - S Africa Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Andrew (Andy) De Klerk M - S Africa Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Edmund (Ed) February M - S Africa Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Ken Vernon M - S Africa Reporter Johannesburg, S Africa Sunday Times correspondent Details Other expeditions
Charlotte Noble F - S Africa Exp Doctor - Physician Details Other expeditions
Richard Shorey M - S Africa Photographer Johannesburg, S Africa Sunday Times correspondent/photographer Details Other expeditions
Brian Pottinger M - S Africa Reporter Johannesburg, S Africa Sunday Times correspondent Details Other expeditions

References

12 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER96108 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth A Season on Everest - 71:21-26 (1997) -
EVER96108 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth - - 72:306-308 (1998) -
EVER96108 - O'Dowd, Cathy & Woodall, Ian Everest: Free to Decide Zebra Press, Sandton, South Africa - -
EVER96108 - Vernon, Ken Ascent & Dissent Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg - -
EVER96108 - O'Dowd, Cathy Just For the Love of It Free to Decide Publishing, Gallo Manor, South Africa - -
EVER96108 HIGH Venables, Steve Everest and Real-climbing - Can They Co-exist ? - 164:2 (Jul 1996) -
EVER96108 HIGH - - - 167:72-73 (Oct 1996) -
EVER96108 HIGH - - - 179:25 (Oct 1997) -
EVER96108 - - http://www.cathyodowd.com/ev1996.html - - -
EVER96108 - Conroy, Patrick Everest Untold Jacana Media, Auckland Park, S Africa - -
EVER96108 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199830603/Asia-Nepal-Everest-in-the-Pre-Monsoon - - -
EVER96108 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199702100/A-Season-in-Everest-The-Rest-of-the-Story - - -