Brigitte Leonce Suzanne MuirOAM (born 8 September 1958)[1] is a Belgian-born Australian mountain climber. Her climbing career spanned over thirty years.[2]
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.[3]
In 1997, she became the first Australian woman to summit Mount Everest[3][4][5] and the first Australian, male or female, to climb the Seven Summits (the highest summit on each of the continents).[6]
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.[7]
After her career in mountaineering and adventure, Brigitte became a film maker[8] and an inspirational speaker.[9] 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.[10][11][12]
Awards and Citations
Australian Geographic Society Spirit of Adventure Awards, 1997[13]
Australia Day Achievers Award 1998
Order of Australia Medal, for services to mountaineering, 2000[14]
Centenary Medal, For service to Australia through mountaineering, 2001[15]
