In 1996 Woodall was the leader of the controversial first South African Mount Everest expedition, during which one member of the party died. The expedition reached Camp IV - the last camp before the summit, and 923m below it - on 10 May, but were not directly involved in the disaster that unfolded that day. Following the tragedy the expedition returned to base camp and made a second attempt after a few days rest, achieving the summit on 28 May. Woodall reached the peak by 10 am, four other members of the expedition had done so by 11 am, but Bruce Herrod lagged behind and was the last to reach the peak; from there, at 5 pm, he spoke to the others by radio, but was never heard from again. The expedition was sponsored by Johannesburg newspaper The Sunday Times, but its support of the expedition was later withdrawn.