Introduction
Brigitte Leonce Suzanne Muir OAM (born 8 September 1958) is a Belgian-born Australian mountain climber. Her climbing career spanned over thirty years.
Early life and education
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Climbing career
In 1986, she made, with husband at the time Jon Muir and friend Graeme Hill, the first ascent of the South West Pillar of Shivling in Northern India.
In 1997, she became the first Australian woman to summit Mount Everest and the first Australian, male or female, to climb the Seven Summits (the highest summit on each of the continents).
In 1998, Penguin (Viking) published her autobiography, The Wind in My Hair.
In 2008, SBS broadcast The Eighth Summit, a documentary directed and produced by wife and husband team Anne and Wayne Tindall, and based on Brigitte’s life.
After her career in mountaineering and adventure, Brigitte became a film maker and an inspirational speaker. She now leads community building treks in her beloved village of Lura in Eastern Nepal, where she started a women’s literacy and empowerment program.
Awards and Citations
- Australian Geographic Society Spirit of Adventure Awards, 1997
- Australia Day Achievers Award 1998
- Order of Australia Medal, for services to mountaineering, 2000
- Centenary Medal, For service to Australia through mountaineering, 2001
- First Victorian Honour Roll of Women, 2001