Rebecca Stephens (climber)
Rebecca Stephens MBE (born 3 October 1961) is a British mountaineer, writer, motivational speaker and leadership coach. She was the first British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest[1] and the first British Woman to climb the Seven Summits.[2][3] Her experiences in the outdoors combined with her business and communications background lead her to found leadership development company Seven Summits Performance Ltd.
Stephens originally trained as a journalist and pursued that career for some ten years, becoming deputy editor of the Financial Times magazine Resident Abroad.In 1989 Stephens accompanied an expedition attempting the North East Ridge of Mount Everest. Exploring the question “why do climbers climb?”, she climbed to the first camp at 7,100m and made a decision she wanted to climb the mountain herself. In 1993 she returned to Everest on a British expedition and reached the summit on the 17th May, becoming the first British woman to do so.[1] On 22 November 1994 she became the third woman, and the first British woman, to climb the seven continental summits of the Messner list.[2]
She was appointed an MBE in 1994.[4]
She was a presenter on BBC television's science series Tomorrow's World from 1994 to 1996.
In addition to her mountaineering exploits, Stephens has sailed the Southern Seas to the South Magnetic Pole and Antarctica and crossed the South Atlantic island of South Georgia. With the polar explorers Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud, she competed in an eight-day Eco-Challenge, which consisted of running, biking and canoeing across the Canadian Rockies.[5]
Rebecca delivers motivational talks and workshops on subjects which include: leadership, team building, decision making, influencing and communication, and resilience. Rebecca also leads experiential treks in Africa and the Himalayas.
She is a visiting fellow at Ashridge Business School, fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, member of The Alpine Club and a trustee of the Himalayan Trust UK.
Rebecca Stephens is a consultant at Skarbek Associates.
Selected publications
- Rebecca Stephens, Due South (London: Wigwam, 2009)
- Rebecca Stephens & Robert Heller, The Seven Summits of Success (London: Capstone, 2005)
- Rebecca Stephens, Everest (London: Dorling Kindersley, 2001)
- Rebecca Stephens, On Top of the World (London: Macmillan, 1994)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 47: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 7summits. "The seven summits, the highest peaks of the 7 continents: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson, Carstensz! Trips, Statistics & information!". 7summits.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
- ↑ Stephens, Rebecca (2005-05-15). "Exploration is about personal firsts". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
- ↑ "The Gazette". The Gazette. 30 December 1993. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
- ↑ Biography page of rebeccastephens.com
External links
- Pages with script errors
- 1961 births
- British summiters of Mount Everest
- British mountain climbers
- British television presenters
- Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
- Living people
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Summiters of the Seven Summits
- Female climbers
- Motivational speakers
- British motivational speakers
- English motivational speakers
