JUST FOR THE LOVE OF IT

How refreshing ... when there are still so many challenges left in the world, at a time when these very qualities [endurance and courage] need to be developed in our youth, to find a young modern explorer in Cathy O'Dowd pushing her limits 'just for the love of it'. A reason that seems as good as any, and probably better than most." Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Explorer Featuring a new chapter, Cathy shares the previously untold story of her fourth Everest expedition, an attempt to climb a new route on the seldom visited and very risky east face of Everest. At 8am on 29 May 1999, Cathy O'Dowd, a 30-year-old mountaineer from South Africa, stepped onto the summit of Everest and into history. She had become the first woman to climb the highest mountain in the world from both its south (Edmund Hillary) and north (George Mallory) sides. To achieve this, Cathy had to face the ultimate risks of Everest. During her first ascent from the south in 1996, she and her team were trapped in the killer storm described in Jon Krakauer's best-seller, Into Thin Air. They finally reached the summit, only to have the thrill of success snatched away when a team member disappeared on the descent. In 1998 Cathy, attempting the north side of Everest, stopped only a few hundred metres from the summit to try and help a dying American climber. This is a book of challenge, of adventure, of love and life and death. This is Everest, the world's highest mountain, climbed 'just for the love of it'. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cathy O'Dowd is the first South African to climb Mt Everest and the first woman in the world to climb it from both sides. She spent the first thirty years of her life in South Africa, but now lives in the Pyrenees mountains, in Andorra. She is a professional inspirational speaker and an author, who spends the rest of her time climbing, ski-mountaineering and mountain running.