Brigitte Muir OAM

Brigitte Muir was born in Belgium in 1958. As a teenager she discovered 'caving' and decided outdoor adventures were more fun than watching television. Since 1976, she has climbed and bushwalked all over the world.

En route she met and married Jon Muir who was from Wollongong, Australia and who shared her passion for adventure. They moved to Australia where she became an Australian citizen. They began exploring the Himalayas together and pioneered an extremely difficult new route on the West Pillar of Shivling (6500 metres) and conducted nine expeditions to 8000 metre peaks.

In 1988, Brigitte started a quest to climb the highest mountain on each continent. Four years later Brigitte and Jon started a company, Adventure Plus, as a way for her to reach the remaining two summits on her list, Mt Everest and Mt Vinson on Antarctica. They lead treks and climbs in Australia and overseas, as well as giving motivational talks and selling books.

The company is based in their home in Namituk in Victoria near the Grampians. Brigitte completed the 'Seven Summits' in May 1997 when she became the first woman to scale Mt Everest. It was her fourth attempt. She carried two Australian flags and planted one on top of the mountain.

When she returned home she said, "I was thinking about how beautiful the world is and how lucky we are here to belong in Australia, which is really a unique place, and how we really should look after it".

Her next goal was to become the first woman to walk to the South Pole, following which she plans to pioneer a new route to the South Pole. In November 1998 she published an autobiography The Wind in My Hair. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2000 for her services to mountaineering.