Elia Saikaly

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

• The Second Summit: Finding Life on Everest

  Every mountain has two summits. One is made of rock and ice. The other lives inside us. Most people spend their lives chasing the first and never reach the second. This is the story of what happens when you finally do: when the pursuit of something higher becomes purpose, and the hope you find at the top becomes the service you offer to others.

  In Elia’s Saikaly’s early years, life was turbulent and unsettled. He spent time in a group home and a reform school, growing up largely outside the system, and by his teens was heading down the wrong path, with little reason to believe in a different future. That chapter might have defined him. Instead, a chance encounter with a world champion strongman changed the trajectory of his life.

  Under that mentorship, Saikaly discovered the power of discipline, visualization, recovery, and mindset, the same principles that drive elite performance in any arena. By 17, he had broken a world record in powerlifting. The strength he built then, in body and mind, was his first proof that struggle could be transformed, and it would one day help him endure the storms of the world’s highest peaks.

  In this keynote, Saikaly shares his incredible journey to becoming the first and only Canadian to summit Mount Everest five times, showing audiences that the greatest climb is not up a mountain, but toward our truest self. Through breathtaking visuals and powerful storytelling, audiences will learn that each of us has a mountain to climb, and that the most meaningful ascent begins the moment we stop chasing the summit and start finding meaning in the climb itself.

• Rise Above: Thriving in an Age of Disruption

  At 29,000 feet you learn very quickly that you cannot control the environment. You can only control your response to it. Today’s leaders face the same truth. Markets shift. Pressure builds. Technology reshapes entire industries in months. Burnout is rising and uncertainty has become the norm. In this world, the people who thrive are not the ones who push the hardest, but the ones who adapt the fastest.

  For more than 25 years, Elia Saikaly has led and filmed high-stakes expeditions on the world’s highest peaks, facing volatile conditions where leadership, adaptability, and decision-making meant the difference between success and survival.

  Through these experiences, Saikaly discovered that true peak performance isn’t built on willpower or grit alone. It’s built on adaptability: the ability to regulate under stress, focus amid chaos, and rise with purpose when the path ahead is uncertain. In this powerful keynote, he reveals a science-backed framework for human performance, showing leaders and teams how physiology, mindset, and purpose determine whether we burn out or break through. Through breathtaking visuals, neuroscience, and hard-earned lessons from the world’s highest peaks, he helps audiences understand what it takes to adapt, recover, and thrive in an era of constant change.

• K2: Leadership from the Edge

  This is a deeply moving and inspirational keynote presentation that takes audiences on an emotional journey of tragedy, courage, resilience, and honour. It is based on Elia Saikaly’s personal experience on K2, the world’s deadliest mountain, while filming and leading a search operation in the aftermath of a devastating event.

  The journey begins on K2, the last unconquered 8000m peak in winter. Although a team of Nepalese climbers achieved the historic first ascent, tragedy struck just two weeks later when Saikaly’s fellow team members, including renowned climbers Ali Sadpara and John Snorri, disappeared on their way to the summit. Only Ali’s son Sajid survived.

  The military-led search operation from the air was one of the most comprehensive in mountaineering history and spanned 13 days. During the first 48 hours, Saikaly assisted the Pakistani military pilots at ground zero, hoping to identify via photographs what could be his missing friends. Sadly, they were never found.

  Saikaly faced a difficult decision: whether to leave Ali’s son Sajid to face the unimaginable loss on his own or to step up and take action, even if it meant putting himself and his team at risk. With fierce determination and a deep sense of empathy, Saikaly chose to lead. Alongside his climbing partner Pasang Kaji Sherpa, he financed and filmed the search operation that unfolded the following season. Against all odds and with minimal resources, Saikaly succeeded in finding his missing friends, finally bringing closure to their families.

  “K2: Leadership from the Edge” is a multimedia experience that transports audience onto the steep slopes of the “Savage Mountain”. It is a profound emotional journey that shares tactics learned from working in hostile environments combined with strategies surrounding empathy and compassion to inspire and empower others to lead from the edge.

• Discovering Your Life’s Purpose: A Journey to Everest

  This keynote presentation shares Elia Saikaly’s personal story of challenge, courage, compassion, and risk. Through stunning visuals and compelling storytelling, he inspires a greater understanding of how challenges and adversity can shape us into the people we are born to be.

  Saikaly brings audiences though his journey from rock bottom to the peak of Mount Everest, where he honored the memory of his friend and mentor, Dr. Sean Egan. This journey inspired him to create FindingLife, a non-profit educational program, which has virtually brought 20,000 Canadian students to the summit of Mount Everest, all in honour of his friend’s life.

  Saikaly also delves into more complex experiences including surviving the 2015 earthquake and avalanche on Everest and his most recent ascent of K2, the second tallest mountain on Earth, where he enabled and co-led a recovery mission of a young man in search of his father who disappeared on the world’s deadliest mountain.

  This inspirational and empowering keynote is a celebration of how tragedy can inspire hope and lead to positive change. With the use of stunning 4K video and sound, Saikaly brings the beauty and danger of Everest and the world’s tallest peaks to life while sharing lessons of success and failure during his ascents. His presentation explores themes such as goal setting, teamwork, courage, calculated risks, resilience, resourcefulness, believing in oneself, and giving back to society.