Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact David Breashears booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company if you would like to hire David Breashears for a speaker appearance, autograph signing, endorsement deal, tradeshow, convention, VIP meet and greet, licensing deal, print advertising, social media marketing campaign, television commercial or corporate event. Here you can find David Breashears speaker & appearance fees, booking costs, availability and schedule information. Contact our booking agency for more details. David Breashears has climbed Mt. Everest four times. David Breashears is an accomplished filmmaker, adventurer, author, mountaineer, and professional speaker. Since 1978, he has combined his skills in climbing and filmmaking to complete more than forty film projects. In 1983, Breashears transmitted the first live television pictures from the summit of Mount Everest, and in 1985 became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest twice. For this, he is known as a world-class mountaineer. A lengthy career in documentary filmmaking--including the Imax film, Everest--has earned him wide acclaim and four Emmy awards. For this, he is known as one of the elite cinematographers in his field. But his new autobiography, High Exposure - An Enduring Passion for Everest and Other High Places, proves he is more than a climber and a filmmaker - he is also an able writer.

Breashears has no lack of good material. In his book, we can follow him through the stunning backdrops of Yosemite, Europe, Nepal, and Tibet, brushing up against triumphs and tragedies along the way. And while the nuts and bolts of his adventures are entertainment enough, his knack for building suspense and employing understated drama makes his autobiography read like a novel: "The morning was sunny and calm, and Rob looked as though he'd lain down on his side and fallen asleep. Around him the undisturbed snow sparkled in the sun. I stared at his bare left hand ... I wondered what a mountaineer with Rob's experience was doing without a glove."

David Breashears also likes to remind us of humble beginnings surmounted by his early climbing days when he was known as "the kid," and a winter he spent sleeping under a sheet of plywood during the Wyoming oil boom when he was called "the worm." But mostly he documents his filmmaking career and climbing passion, both of which he approaches with an obsessive fervor.

Breashears is an accomplished, highly sought-after keynote and motivational speaker who has delivered his presentations throughout North America, Canada, Europe, and Asia. His lectures are closely tied to his ascent of Mount Everest in 1996 as expedition leader and co-director of the IMAX film team. He conducts quarterly lectures each year on leadership, planning and team building at the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France; widely recognized among the world's top-tier business schools as the most innovative and influential. He also speaks about "Leadership in an Unpredictable World" six times annually to groups of Admirals and Commanders at the Naval Post-Graduate School's Center for Executive Education in Monterey, California.

In the spring of 1996, Breashears co-directed and co-produced the first IMAX film shot on Mount Everest. When the now infamous blizzard of May 10, 1996 hit Mount Everest, killing eight climbers, Expedition Leader Breashears and his team were in the midst of making this historic film. In the tragedy that soon followed, Breashears and his team stopped filming to provide assistance to the stricken climbers. After returning to Base Camp, Breashears and his team then regrouped and reached the summit of the mountain on May 23, 1996, achieving their goal of becoming the first to record IMAX film images at Earth's highest point. Breashears has said that if there is a lesson to be learned from the May 1996 tragedy, it is that for him, success that year was not to be found in reaching the summit, it was that everyone on his team returned safely. The film, titled EVEREST, premiered in March 1998.

David Breashears' presentation is a compelling blend of first person story-telling illustrated by breathtaking and rarely seen images from the 1996 Everest IMAX filming expedition. He has delivered his presentation throughout North America, Canada, Europe and Asia. David's extraordinary real-life leadership experiences, observations, practical knowledge, and expertise in many areas allow him to precisely target and interact with his audience. He speaks on a range of topics including leadership, motivation, teamwork, team building, and safety.