South African Everest expedition, 1996

The 1996 South African Everest expedition was a heavily publicised expedition by a South African climbing team to summit Mount Everest.[1][2] The expedition was led by Ian Woodall, and was intended to be a celebration of post-apartheid South Africa.[3] Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd summited together. Bruce Herrod reached the summit afterward but died during his descent. Although the expedition was not caught up in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, it unfolded while the South African team was on the mountain.[4][5]

Initially sponsored by the Sunday Times, after a falling out with the paper,[6] other outlets covered the expedition including 702 Talk Radio.[1] The expedition was surrounded by controversy[2] around Woodall's leadership style, and a number of senior team members left the expedition[7][8] There were also accusations that Deshun Deysel,[9][10] an inexperienced Coloured[11] woman was included in the expedition because of her race.[1][7]