In a well-received address to the Bermuda Captive Conference yesterday, keynote speaker Alison Levine shared her insights on the world of business — covering familiar themes from teamwork to risk management.

Yet, though many in her audience occupy the heights of their industry, Ms Levine has gleaned much of her wisdom at summits of another sort.

In a speech entitled "Oxygen not included", she told delegates at the Fairmont Southampton anecdotes of expeditions to the world's tallest mountains — spinning each in to durable lessons in business philosophy.

"It's always going to be easier for someone to tell you 'no' than to help you," said Ms Levine, recalling an episode when an Indonesian bureaucrat refused her access to Carstensz Pyramid, the country's tallest mountain. She insisted, and eventually secured an escort from the Indonesian military — a story she repeated to stress the value of persistence.

The bulk of Ms Levine's presentation centred on the lessons she learned while captaining the 2002 American Women's Everest Expedition.

Ms Levine related the process of acclimatisation on Everest — which forces climbers to ascend part way, before returning to base camp — to the experiences of people running businesses.

"Not only is it physically challenging, but psychologically it is very frustrating," she said of the climbs. The moral of the experience, she said, was that "even though you are going completely backwards, you are making progress".

"Fear is OK," she told the conference, in front of a picture of her team navigating over a crevice in the mountain. "Complacency is what will kill you."

She then shared with the audience lessons she learned through the ordeals of climbing Everest, such as malfunctioning oxygen tanks and approaching snow storms.

One particularly poignant moment in the speech came when Ms Levine told the audience of the agonising choice her expedition faced on Everest's South Summit. Only a few hundred feet from the mountain's true peak, a storm forced them to turn back. Even at 30,000 feet, Ms Levine said "turning away from the deal is tougher than carrying on".

"There's always risks — risks in business, risks in life, risks on the mountains," she explained, noting that some lessons had equal application in an office and on top of the world.

One particular use of risk mitigation she employs before climbing a mountain is to become friendly with other teams at base camp — thereby ensuring their help should something go wrong on the mountain. Witnessing a horrific death on Everest, she said, reminded her that "sometimes no matter how good you are, things can still go wrong".

Ms Levine spoke from experience not only in the field of mountaineering — but in finance as well. With an MBA from Duke University, Ms Levine worked for Goldman Sachs in New York before serving as deputy finance director for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful campaign to become Governor of California.

Her achievements (which include reaching both Poles) are even more remarkable considering that a heart condition once prevented her from even climbing stairs or driving a car.

Closing her remarks yesterday in a characteristic enthusiasm she encouraged delegates to adopt a 'game on' attitude: "You have to be willing to get out there and push yourselves on those peaks!"