Wim Smets

Belgian Adventurer, explorer and leading motivational speaker, Wim Smets is best known for climbing the 7 Summits, which is made up of the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. He is also the only Belgian who ever tried to climb K2.

Wim took on his first expedition in 1998, when he climbed the mountains Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in Ecuador. A love of adventure had been born, and within 7 years Wim had climbed Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Aconcagua, Denali and Vinson. It wasn't long before the challenge of Mount Everest came calling. So in 2007, Wim ventured to 8850 metres above sea level to the summit of Everest, becoming the thirteenth Belgian to reach the summit.

A truly inspirational individual, Wim has achieved goals that many would think are achievable. Continually pushing to be better and do more, Wim has set a number of records and had undertook some of the most challenging expeditions in the world. Some of these include undertaking six expeditions to 8000 metres, reaching the top a massive five times and becoming the Belgian record holder in climbing mountain higher than 8000 metres.

Furthermore, Wim is also an expert in IT and is an experienced project manager, giving him the expert knowledge of the business world. With a particular specialism in change management, Wim is able to perfectly place the parallels between business and mountaineering.

Well known international speaker, Wim has had the opportunity to speak all around the globe at some of the biggest and most prestigious conferences and corporate events, such as TEDx.

During his gripping and fascinating talks, Wim discuss the lessons that he has learnt from pushing himself to the extreme. Using his near death experiences, he explains how the lessons he learnt can be applied at work and in private life. His most common topics revolve around motivation and determination, peak performance, overcoming adversity, leadership and teamwork and managing risks.