Based on this experience, her lecture focuses on how to define worthwhile goals, manage logistics and finances, select a winning team, anticipate and solve problems, maximize successes, and overcome failures. Her presentation emphasizes decision making and group dynamics in stressful situations, and the leadership skills and vision needed to get a team to the top.

Dramatic stories of the Himalaya and the people who have climbed there combine with stunning slides for an unforgettable lecture.

High Places Around the World
Join Arlene for a unique-- never to be repeated-- adventure: 15 months of climbing and explorations in Africa, Asia, and New Zealand. From December 1971 to February 1973, Arlene and companions followed the summer around the world, up and down across the equator, doing consecutive mountaineering expeditions in eleven of the world's major mountain ranges.

Some of the countries where they climbed -- Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Iran, Uganda - are now closed to Westerners or irreversibly altered. Highlights include five ascents in the legendary Mountains of the Moon-- glaciated peaks rising to 16,700 feet from the equatorial jungle of Uganda; climbs in the Alum Kuh range in the "Valley of the Assassins" in Iran; four first ascents of 15,000 foot peaks surrounding the Vale of Kashmir; and Noshaq, a 24,000 foot high peak in the remote Wakkhan corridor of Afghanistan.

These round-the world climbing adventures in remote, spectacular regions are documented by outstanding slides. It was Arlene's first realization that seemingly impossible dreams can be accomplished by careful planning and determination.

The Great Himalayan Traverse Across the Himalaya and Beyond
During 1981 and l982, Arlene Blum and Hugh Swift were the first Westerners to make a traverse across the Great Himalayan Range of Bhutan, Nepal and India.  To do this epic trek they had to obtain special permits to cross politically sensitive areas, find a feasible route across 2000 miles of  high passes and rugged gorges, and plan and obtain in advance nearly all the food and equipment they would need for their nine month journey.

They began near the eastern border of Bhutan, a small Buddhist kingdom reminiscent of Shangri-La. Their journey continued over icy passes up to 19,000 feet high and into river valleys below 2,000 feet, gaining and losing an average of 3,000 feet each day. They reached Lamayuru Ladakh in India after extraordinary adventures amongst a diversity of peoples, cultures, plants and animals that is unsurpassed anywhere on this planet.

The Great Himalayan Traverse slide show consists of the best of more than 12,000 color slides Arlene took along the way. They are shown with two projectors and a dissolve, local music taped during the trek, and her personal narration.

Travel and Trekking in the Himalayas  
This introduction to Himalayan travel is designed for all those who dream of Himalayan adventure. Spectacular slides accompanied by traditional music transport us to this magical mountain world. An overview of the peoples, culture, religion, art, and history of the Himalaya will prepare prospective travelers for their upcoming trips. This information is also valuable to armchair travelers seeking a new perspective from which to view their own lives and society.

The presentation is based on the popular Himalayan Trekking and Travel Course taught by Arlene Blum at UC Berkeley since l982. It is available as an evening slide/lecture or as a comprehensive all day seminar tailored to the interests of the audience. Practical information such as how to prepare for the trip, choose food and equipment, select modes of travel, and stay healthy can be included.

Australia: the Great Barrier Reef
Arlene Blum -- known for her climbing and trekking adventures in high places -- has recently gone "down under" to explore one of the largest and least known wilderness areas on the planet: Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In the vast quiet underwater wilderness are countless unexplored canyons, peaks and valleys teeming with aquatic life. Arlene tells memorable stories of the peculiar habits of the colorful reef-dwellers and her own adventures such as the dramatic rescue of a stranded dolphin.

"Diving is much less work than climbing," she reports. "Weightless below the waters, you can ascent vertical walls with a kick of your fins....In the mountains there always comes a time when I want to go back down to the world. I never want to come up from the reef."

Arlene's presentation consists of stunning slides taken above and below the water in a two-projector dissolve format and accompanied by music composed especially for it.

Women in High Places: Annapurna and Other Climbs
In 1978, a team of ten women led by Arlene Blum made the first American ascent of Annapurna I (26,500'), a difficult and dangerous Himalayan giant. Arlene's slides and personal narrative portray the major psychological and organizational challenges she overcame in putting together the expedition, leading the climb through storms and avalanches to the triumph of the summit, and dealing with the tragic deaths of two of her team members.

This classic Annapurna story is embedded in a fascinating and often humorous history of 175 years of climbing and exploration by women. Arlene tells of Maria Paradis who climbed Mt. Blanc in 1808 to get more business for her souvenir stand at the foot of the mountain; Alexandra David-Neel, who at the age of 56, walked 2,000 miles to Lhasa disguised as a Tibetan beggar woman; and of her own expeditions to McKinley, Everest and Bhrigupanth.

The lecture reveals the challenges and rewards of climbing the world's highest mountains. Its beautiful slides are presented in a two projector-dissolve format with Himalayan and Western music.

Damsels on Denali: Leadership Lessons from the Roof of the World
In 1970, a brochure for a guided expedition up Denali stated: "Women can join the Denali expedition for a reduced price. They will be permitted to go as far as Base Camp to help with the cooking." At that time, many people-men and women alike-doubted women had the strength or skill to climb the to the highest point on the North American continent. 

Arlene Blum rose to this challenge and helped organize the first all woman expedition to Denali, of which she became the deputy leader. The Denali team persevered though storms and difficulties to reach the summit at 20,320 feet on July 6, 1970. When the team leader became critically ill just below the top, Arlene had to take over leadership of the expedition.

This lecture recounts the dramatic story of the successful rescue from near the top of Denali and the challenges and rewards of this historic ascent. It focuses on the leadership skills needed to get a team up and down one of the world’s fiercest mountains - skills that can be transferred to other endeavors.

Across the Alps with Baby
In 1987 Arlene Blum, Rob Gomersall, and their four to six month-old daughter Annalise Gomersall Blum made a traverse from hut to hut "Across the Alps with Baby" through some of the Alpine regions of Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France.

This slide lecture about the challenges and rewards of parenthood in high places transports you to verdant alpine meadows flanked by towering Alpine peaks.

"Carrying Annalise and all her baby gear, nursing and diapering our way across the Alps was as much work as climbing Mount Everest," Arlene reports. "But it was lots more fun!"

* Please note that while this speaker's specific fee falls within the range posted at the top of this page (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change without notice. Also note that most celebrity keynotes begin in the $25,000 and up range (most list "Contact for Fee Schedule"). For current fee information or international event fees, please contact your Speakers Platform representative.