Brigitte Muir

Brigitte Leonce Suzanne Muir is a Belgian-born Australian mountain climber. Her climbing career spanned over thirty years.

Early life and education

Muir was born Brigitte Koch in Ougrée, Belgium.

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.
In 1998, Penguin 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 leads community building treks in the 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
Victorian Honour Roll of Women, 2001