Bertrand Piccard is one of the worlds leading adventurers who has successfully circumnavigated the world non-stop in a hot air balloon.

He was born in Lausanne, Vaud canton. His grandfather Auguste Piccard and father, Jacques Piccard, were noted balloonists and inventors.Growing up in a ballooning and undersea-exploring family, Bertrand was always fascinated with flight. As a child, he was taken to the launch of several space flights from Cape Canaveral. He became a hang-glider and developed an interest in ultra-light motorized flight, as well as the gas balloons his grandfather had set records in.

He is a lecturer and supervisor at the Swiss Society for Medical Hypnosis.

On March 1, 1999 Piccard and Brian Jones set off in the balloon Breitling Orbiter 3 from Château d'Oex in Switzerland on the non-stop balloon circumnavigation. They landed in Egypt after a 45,755 kilometre flight lasting 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes. In recognition of this accomplishment, he received awards including the Harmon Trophy, the FAI Gold Air Medal and the Charles Green Salver.

In 2004, he co-announced a project, in cooperation with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), for a solar-powered, long-range, one-seated glider named Solar Impulse. The project is dubbed 'a great human adventure'. He has financial and technical backing from several European firms and plan to circumnavigate the globe with several pilots in relay, flying above cloud cover during the day and at lower altitude at night in 2009.

After his round-the-world flight, Dr Bertrand Piccard became a sought-after speaker both by the public and by big companies who invite him to address their management, employees or clients.He knows that his audience isn't there to learn how to fly a balloon, but rather to find in his experience a source of inspiration for their private or professional lives. Using his aerial exploits as a backdrop, Bertrand Piccard illustrates his concept of the psychology of life, human communication, team-work, motivation, pioneering spirit, as well as how to deal with stress, uncertainty and crises. At the request of some audiences, he also covers medical topics such as the use of hypnosis and self-hypnosis.

Since 1992, he has featured at several hundred public or private gatherings in America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Testimonials

“Thank you for your really exciting contribution to our European Tax Conference. For all of us it was the highlight of this event.”
Hartwich Lüssmann, KPMG Germany

“Your speech outlining the importance of respecting the humanitarian values was thought-provoking and eloquently echoed the important humanitarian agenda that the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is promoting.”
Princess Magriet, Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

“We were all moved by your speech and by the way you approach challenges and life in general - your words were motivational for us all.”
Karen Wilson, Director of the Management Board, World Economic Forum.