Harrisburg woman completes Seven Summits journey

Amber Charnoff
·2 min read

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Julie McKelvey summited Mount Kosciuszko in Australia on Dec. 29 to finish her Seven Summits journey, making her one of less than 100 women to have climbed the highest peak on every continent.

“This has been the most incredible, scariest and beautiful experience of my entire life and to finish my seventh summit with my family by my side has made all the hard work, training and pain worth it,” said McKelvey.

McKelvey is less than 500 individuals to have climbed all of the seven peaks, which include Mount Everest in Nepal, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Aconcagua in Argentina, Vinson in Antarctica, Denali in Alaska and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia.

The Cumberland County native has done all of this while raising money for the Miracle-Ear Foundation which provides hearing solutions to those in need. McKelvey is on the foundation’s board and owns 34 Miracle-Ear stores in Pennsylvania. She has raised over $250,000 to give free hearing aids to those who would otherwise not be able to afford them.

“I fell in love with mountaineering and to be able to combine my love of climbing these incredible summits around the world while helping people receive the gift of sound through the Miracle-Ear Foundation has been a dream come true,” McKelvey said.

McKelvey stood on top of her first of the seven summits, Mount Fuji, at the age of 48 and has since dedicated herself to completing all of the seven summits, including the tallest mountain in the World, Everest, while using her platform to change hearing impaired individuals lives.

“Julie is an incredible inspiration with her determination and passion to scale these challenging summits as well as raising funds to provide the gift of sound to those in need,” said Jenni Hargraves, vice president of the Miracle-Ear Foundation. “She has followed her dreams and passion along with her philanthropic commitment to change thousands of lives and serves as a shining example for our entire organization.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.