Photos by Peter Doucette
Speaker Profile
Majka Burhardt is a writer, climber, and guide who excels in translating adventure to the every day, and the every day to adventure. Since the publication of her first book, Vertical Ethiopia: Climbing Toward Possibility in the Horn of Africa, in February 2008, Majka has been speaking to audiences throughout North America about how to make adventure additive-- when exploration deepens into a realm of cultural and global understanding. By telling the human stories behind seemingly superhuman pursuits, Majka illuminates the ability of us all to become active participants in the greater dialog of our lives. It all starts, according to Majka, with the willingness to have a conversation. Majka shares her conversations through in-time stories of what makes her pause, think, squirm, and believe.
Majka has given lectures throughout North America, highlights include: Seattle IMAX Theatre/Pacific Science Center, Cleveland World Affairs Council, 92nd Street Y, Banff Film and Book Festival, Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, Colorado Environmental Coalition, World Affairs Council of Oregon, Princeton, Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Bowdoin, and many other universities and colleges.
Additional information can be found on the following pages:
Majka is currently scheduling presentations for the following subjects (please click on the links for more information). To schedule a show, contact Majka at mb@majkaburhardt.com.
Waypoint Namibia: Big Walls, Desert Mirages, and Perseverance in the Darmaland and Beyond.
and
Vertical Ethiopia: Possibility, Environment, and Adventure in the Horn of Africa.
Majka’s presentations combine stories with graphics and images from award winning photographers and well-known sources of news and public consciousness. Majka is specifically interested in the honesty of experience, both in what she brings to an event, and what that event in turn gives to her. Speaking enables Majka to fluidly connect with groups from ten to one thousand and link together history, environment, and personal story in new ways each time she addresses a group.
As a lifelong adventurer, Majka has traveled throughout the world by bike, canoe, and, more often than not, by foot. From the Arctic Ocean to southern Argentina, the Horn of Africa to the Namib Desert, and the high peaks in the Himalaya to sea cliffs in France, she is constantly drawn to the emotion and internal experience of exploration. Majka believes it is not enough to travel and to see—one must find a way to connect to the people and the land. One must then, in turn, start a conversation about what they have found.