Sharon Cohrs and her husband Allan, experienced and avid mountain climbers faced the greatest challenge of their lives, when Sharon, at the age of 36 and just about to depart on yet another mountaineering adventure to scale their highest peak yet, Mt. Acongagua (6959m) in South America was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Their lives were turned upside down in an instant, and instead of setting off for an amazing adventure, they were about to embark on the toughest journey of their lives.
Just 9 months after finishing with debilitating chemotherapy, and 3 months of reconstructive surgery, Sharon was in recovery and ready to return to her most beloved pastime. Sharon and her husband Allan, who has been by Sharon's side every step of the way, headed back to Nepal with the mountain of Baruntse, at an imposing 7129m, firmly in their sights. Despite doubts on whether her body was still up to the challenge, Sharon once again triumphed; proving to herself that she could achieve what seemed utterly impossible just months before.
Sharon returned home to local praise and admiration, becoming recognised as a face of optimism and hope for many people battling their own cancer journey, and also those seeking motivation and belief to go on and find their own Everest.
Through openly sharing their story, from the incredible highs to the tragic lows, whilst providing perspective from both cancer survivor and carer; working together as a team, Sharon and Allan have gone on to become an inspiration to many people. Their easy-going nature, along with a contrast of humour and raw emotion, allows an honest delivery of powerful messages in a captivating way, leaving a lasting impression on their audience.
Inspire your students or staff with the first Australian-born couple and the first breast cancer survivor in the world to summit Mount Everest.
An emotive and engaging assembly or workshop for students or staff to encourage, enlighten, and motivate.
"Challenge your team to step outside of their comfort zone"
"Innovative experiential team building and leadership workshops to give your team a fresh and engaging perspective"
Putting your team in uncomfortable challenging environments, high on a mountain, is the basis of our innovative team building and leadership workshops. We set the scene around actual events we have experienced at high altitude, and bring these challenges to the training room.
This fresh approach can only be delivered by people who have lived and breathed this harsh landscape, and provides your team with a wonderful opportunity to immerse themselves in the life of a mountaineer whilst solving complex and thought provoking problems.
Customised to the needs and outcomes of your organisation, your team will have the opportunity to plan an expedition, consider time constraints and budgets, be confronted with scenarios at various stages of the climb, make choices and take care of one another.
Broken up into small expedition teams, your team will be given the opportunity to assess a situation, develop strategies, build contingencies, and provide outcomes to complex situations. These sessions stimulate open and meaningful discussion and collaboration, incorporating planning, safety, risk assessment, teamwork, leadership and creativity.
It's also a great way to deliver some excitement into the workplace, learning new skills and thinking about things in a different way, whilst applying key strategies, problem solviing and critical decision making to reach the summit.
