Catherine Destivelle
    (£5,000 - £7,000)
... Return to previous page


Biography

To learn a few things about motivation, you want to speak to Catherine. She's one of the most adventurous and exciting climbers in the world. She's a solo climber, scaling the most difficult and dangerous peaks without safety ropes, support or back-up.

This extraordinarily brave woman is an accomplished speaker in both English and her native French, sometimes arriving to deliver her inspirational presentations in full climbing regalia!  Designed to challenge and focus an audience, her presentations are full of invaluable insights into what “it” is that enables her to achieve her own objectives and take her to limits thought previously impossible.

Her desire to conquer the most challenging mountain faces in the world illustrates her self-belief and determination, driving her to attain her full potential.  Her unbounded enthusiasm is infectious.  Her audiences are enthralled by her amazing achievements and the slides and video images she shares of her breathtaking climbs.

At the age of 25, after a rigorous and intensive training programme, Catherine demonstrated her climbing supremacy by winning a series of high level competitions.  She quickly established an outstanding reputation throughout the climbing fraternity by becoming the first woman to be graded 8, the highest level of difficulty for a climber and a level which only a handful of men have achieved this century.

Catherine began to tire of competition climbing, finding it rather dull and predictable! She craved a greater challenge and devoted her energy to more daring expeditions. She revived the traditional values of alpine climbing, pioneering new, untried routes up the most difficult rock-faces in the world.

In 1990, Catherine climbed the intimidating Trango Tower in Pakistan. The following year she opened a new route up the famous west face of the Drus, in the Mont Blanc mountain range in just 11 days.  In March 1992, she conquered the 3,970 metres of the north face of the Eiger in just 17 hours, alone and unsupported. This was a truly remarkable achievement. Known to be a complex and extremely dangerous climb, it is the most revered in the Alps and is used as a reference point for every ambitious and daring alpine climber.

Catherine was the first woman to attempt this extremely dangerous climb unsupported. Her triumph firmly establishing her as one of the greatest climbers in the world, removing any unanswered questions about female “inferiority” in climbing.

A truly inspirational speaker, Catherine is in ever-greater demand to inform, develop and delight conference audiences all over the world.

Make an enquiry


Wish List


View my wish list
Add To Wishlist

Choosing a Speaker

Parliament Communications presents about 500 conference and after dinner speakers on this web site. If you have not been able to find the ideal speaker for your event, please call +44 (0)1202 24 24 24. We have access to thousands of other speakers covering business, economics, politics, sport, adventure, technology, etc. We can offer speakers to motivate, inspire, inform, entertain, host, chair and make your event memorable! So much more than a virtual database of speakers, Parliament has experienced staff who are ready to help you choose the perfect speaker for your event.

Speaker Downloads

When you have booked your speaker from Parliament, you may be able to use this facility to download the speaker's presentation material.

Speaker Terms

Parliamentspeakers.com uses these keywords to help you find the best speakers for your event. In the Search screen there is a facility to search these keywords for every speaker on the web site. If you do not find a speaker matching a keyword that you think we should be using, please let us know by e-mail or call Parliament on +44 (0)1202 24 24 24

After dinner speaker, entertainment, raconteur, anecdote, anecdotal, light hearted,Keynote speaker, main speaker, address,Motivational speaker, inspirational speaker, motivate, inspire,Parliament, parliamentspeakers, communications, speakers, bureau, agents, management, conference, event, corporate, presentation, present, parliment, parlament, guest, guest speaker, book, engage, Catherine Destivelle, female, climber, outdoors,