Jon Robert Muir OAM (born 1961) is an Australian mountaineer who has hiked through many terrains, supporting himself through his travels, becoming very skilled at hiking, hunting and finding resources.[1] He is well known for hiking alone across Australia, the North pole, South pole, Mt. Everest and kayaking in the ocean.[2] He has many different achievements that are listed below, in chronological order.
Muir grew up in Australia. He began adventuring after being inspired while sailing with a friend.[3] He started rock climbing professionally. At age sixteen, Muir decided to drop out of school and pursue adventuring and climbing full time, beginning in New Zealand. He climbed Mount Everest solo and hiked across Australia without assistance or re-supply.
Muir lives on an off-grid property, adjacent to the Grampian ranges in Victoria, Australia.[4]
Year | Achievements |
| 1982 | Summitted Mont Blanc (4807m) via the Freney Pillar |
| 1982 | Summitted Grandes Jorasses (4208m) via the Walker Spur. |
| 1982 | Summitted Changabang (6864m) via the south-west pillar. |
| 1983 | Summitted the Matterhorn (4478m) solo via North Face |
| 1983 | Summitted Piz Badile (3370m) solo via the North Face, setting a speed record in the process. |
| 1985 | Completed a winter traverse of Mont Maudit, Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Blanc. |
| 1985 | Summitted the Kedarnath Dome (6850m) in a day. |
| 1986 | Summitted Shivling via the south-west pillar. |
| 1986 | Again summitted Mont Blanc solo, this time setting a speed record via the Frontier ridge. |
| 1987 | Summitted the Kedarnath Group of mountains, with a solo ten-kilometre traverse of the peaks in 41 hours. |
| 1988 | Summitted Mount Everest from the south as a member of the Australian Bicentennial Expedition. Jon reached the summit alone, and set a record when climbing the south side without sherpas. |
| 1989 | Summitted Aconcagua (6960m) in a day. |
| 1989 | Recipient of the Order of Australia for services to mountaineering. |
| 1995 | Completed a 900 km sea kayaking trip down the Daintree River to Cape York in 62 days. |
| 1996 | Completed a solo waterless 620 km desert trek through Lake Eyre and the Tirari Desert in 34 days, pulling a 260 kg cart. |
| 1999 | Reached the South Pole as part of an expedition with Eric Philips and Peter Hillary. Arrived via the Shackleton Glacier, covering a distance of 1500 km over a period of 84 days. |
| 1999 | First solo traverse on foot of Australia's largest salt lakes – Lake Eyre, Lake Frome and Lake Gairdner. |
| 2000 | Completed an 800 km solo sea-kayaking trip along east coast of the Cape York Peninsula in 52 days. |
| 2001 | First ever unassisted crossing of Australia from Port Augusta to Burketown, covering 2500 km over 128 days. |
| 2001 | Australian Geographic Society's Adventurer of the Year. |
| 2002 | Reached the North Pole from Siberia, with Eric Philips. |
| 2003 | Recipient of the Centenary Medal for contributions made to Australian society. |
| 2007 | Completed a solo walk to geographic centre of Australia, covering a distance of 1800 km in 70 days. |
| 2011 | Made first human-powered traverse of flooded Lake Eyre, with Suzan Muir in a double kayak, a distance of 120 km in 24 hours, from mouth of the Warburton River down the Warburton Groove to Dulhunty Island then to shore at Belt Bay. |