Brigitte Muir is the first Australian woman to have climbed Mount Everest and the first Australian, male or female, to have climbed the highest mountain on each continent. Her nine year quest, which included four dramatic attempts on Mount Everest, gives her a unique insight on achieving long term goals, on maintaining personal motivation and on the most important skill needed when working with people: communication!
Rare footage from the top of the world, stunning pictures, her passionate personality and honesty make for powerful presentations which inspire audiences to climb the mountains in their lives.
Her key points are illustrated by striking stories such as being abandoned by her team near the top of Everest, the 1996 disaster where eleven people died in a single night and what challenges await after you have climbed the highest of all mountains.
Brigitte makes a genuine connection with people, engages them and gives them a real sense of the journey, be it in business, at school, or in life. Her willingness to talk with participants after presentations allows them to absorb some of her determination and passion into their own goal setting and ways of acting.
Awards:
Brigitte is the recipient of the Australian Geographic Award for Excellence (1997), the Australia Day Council Australian Achiever Award (1998), the Order of Australia Medal for Services to Mountaineering (2000), the Centenary of Federation Medal (2003) and in 2001 was made a Member of the First Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
Her amazing and inspirational life from her native Belgium to the top of the world featured in The Eighth Summit, a television documentary screened in Australia and internationally in 2010 and 2011.
Author:
Brigitte Muir's riveting autobiography The Wind in My Hair is a tale of true heroism, courage and an unconquerable determination.
Current work
In recent years, she has given her heart towards positive change in her beloved Eastern Nepal, creating inspirational documentaries and leading fundraising treks for ongoing capacity-building initiatives including the Beyond the Smile women's literacy program.
Video
Eighth Summit
Brigitte Muir lives in Natimuk, a tiny town not far from Melbourne Australia. In1988, Brigitte had a dream -- to climb the seven highest mountains on each of the seven continents. She thought it would take a year or two. Nine years later -- after the death of many friends, the end of her marriage and four attempts at Everest, the goal was met -- sometimes addiction, addiction to freedom and adventure comes at a very high price indeed. This is a story about a driven and maverick woman. It is a film about physical adventure in the extreme and how an outsider can fight for a dream...and through it, achieve self esteem. The story takes us from Brigitte's home town in Liege, a small industrial town in Belgium ...to the summits of the world's highest mountain on each of the seven continents. It charts the challenge and battle to climb each mountain and at the same time traces the emotional journey that Brigitte undertook through this grueling nine years. From the spectacular landscape that surrounds Mount McKinley in Canada to the death defying twelve days on the South face of Mount Aconcagua in South America -- to the wastelands of Antarctica and the sulphurous volcanic air of Mt Elbrus in Russia, we see and hear Brigitte face her demons and come to understand why she was compelled to -- "fly to open spaces and isolation." This documentary tracks her soul destroying attempts at Everest over several years; where Brigitte is 'left for dead' by her climbing partners and forced to endure a night in the open, 8,000 meters up on a tiny ledge...in freezing temperatures; 'I was feeling sleepy, very sleepy and toyed with idea of a nap but I knew too well that sleep would mean death...' Where she faces the mysterious death of her team leader at base camp only days into the climb; where dozens of fellow climbers die due to severe weather and poor communications; where she is beaten back time and again by foul weather and grim luck. But the quest continued and the goal was achieved. Brigitte survived her quest but death stalked her throughout. Brigitte now faces another quest. To 're connect' with her inner life and come to terms with her separation from her life long climbing partner and 'love of her life'. Today, Brigitte daily faces the grim reality that most of her dear friends and climbing companions lie dead in the mountains. The extraordinary footage of Brigitte's climbs filmed by herself and professional camera teams portrays one woman's journey to the ends of the earth...only to find her greatest challenge lay within. Her Eighth Summit! This is a documentary that spans the globe and explores the heart. It measures the distance between what one person desperately wants -- to climb the world's highest summits -and what they really need -- to feel at home and at peace with themselves.To say Brigitte’s speech was utterly enthralling and inspiring is an understatement. One does not go through life generally meeting people who have actually climbed the highest peak on Earth ... keep reading Carl Le Souef, Chief Executive, Private Formula
I was particularly impressed at your ability to link your goal setting and experiences mountain climbing with the theme of the conference, and make it especially relevant to the audience. Your ability to relate your experiences to the experiences and needs of those emergency service workers was outstanding. Your presentation was 'down to earth', hugely interesting and most importantly, inspiring to all who had the good fortune to be there that night. The key messages will stay with the audience for a long time.
Many at the Gathering knew that they were living their dreams however Brigitte helped them to understand that looking for and reaching out to their own Everest means that that they will be leading women - both within their families and their communities - thank you for giving us this message. For many of these rural women, understanding that they are leading in their community is a powerful message and one that will indeed scratch more than the surface in their communities.
Brigitte made a genuine connection with her audience. She engaged them and gave them a real sense of the journey. She related it to their experience and expectations. Participants have reported this session was the most valuable. It reinforced the importance of setting goals in their lives. Brigitte's willingness to talk with participants after the presentation allowed them to absorb some of her determination into their own goal setting and ways of acting.
You are the talk of ANZ at the moment. The girls have gone back spouting your praises. You were absolutely wonderful and very endearing to the guests as well. A true delight. Thanks again Brigitte.
Brigitte is a lovely person. She was enthusiastic about her assignment and happy to meet and mingle with guests. It was a pleasure to have her with us. She is a genuinely warm person, and unaffected by her own outstanding personal achievements.
Very conscientious. Our Executive Manager loved her natural manner and approach to her topic. A delight to work with.
Brigitte spoke well and her back up slides and videos left no doubt as to the passion of the lady. I have not experienced a question time after a speaker that went so long for a long time which indicates the level of interest that was stimulated by Brigitte's presentation.
We were very happy with Brigitte's presentation - she was passionate, interesting and had a genuine warmth of character.
Brigitte's address was just what we wanted, she inspired us all and her talk reinforced the importance of passion and persistence - crucial to "living our dreams" and not "dreaming our lives.
The feedback we received from our clients was very positive and I am sure a lot of them went away to live their dreams.
