Top of the world: Pennsylvania woman reaches all Seven Summits

Julie Beall-McKelvey never considered herself an extreme sports person. She did some strength training but hiking and doing mountain climbs? It wasn't something in which Beall-McKelvey did much of.

But then in 2016, her father told her he had one more climb left in him and wanted his daughter to accompany him to Japan and climb Mount Fuji, the highest point in Japan.

So Beall-McKelvey did just that, summiting Mount Fuji and that's when something inside of her clicked. She stood atop the summit and was above the clouds, seeing views that most people can only dream and imagine.

"Something just changed for me inside and I fell in love with it," Beall-McKelvey said.

Now, eight years later, Beall-McKelvey is part of an extremely small list of accomplished hikers. Beall-McKelvey is a Harrisburg resident, but she owns and operates Miracle-Ear which has 34 locations throughout the Commonwealth including in both the Williamsport and Wellsboro areas.

This past year, Beall-McKelvey climbed Mount Kosciuszko in Australia and by doing so, became one of less than 100 women to ever reach the highest summit on every continent. The feat, known as the Seven Summits, is far from an easy task, and Beall-McKelvey knows that. She broke her foot while training before Mount Denali in Alaska and had to turn around only to give it another try later on. She received a lung infection on her first summit rotation on Mount Everest and had to be evacuated and hospitalized to recover.

But those were just setbacks and Beall-McKelvey kept going and did all Seven Summits.

She summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2018, Mount Elbrus in Russia in 2019 and Mount Aconcagua in 2020 in South America right before the COVID-19 pandemic happened. She continued afterwards, going to the frozen desert of Antarctica and summited Mount Vinson.

Next was Mount Denali in Alaska, followed by Mount Everest in the Himalayas on May 23, 2023 and finished with Mount Kosciuszko in southern Australia.

Seven continents and Seven Summits, but one unbelievable milestone.

"It's kind of all the emotions. I'm so happy, proud, but I think mostly relieved that I got it done because I have been at this for five years pretty much nonstop," Beall-McKelvey said. "It's been quite the journey. It means a lot. I'm one of less than 100 women in the world who have ever done it, so I'm still trying to wrap my head around it and come down to Earth."

Coming down to Earth metaphorically may be easier than the actual descent from the summit of each mountain.

Of the Seven Summits, the highest in elevation is Everest, which is 8,848 meters above sea level. Aconcagua is second at 6,961 meters and Denali is third at 6,194. Her last excursion — summiting Kosciuszko — was the shortest of the seven mountains at just 2,228 meters.

"I started doing the easier ones first and progressed up to Everest this past year. I really didn't know if I could do Everest, but I just kept doing the next mountain and doing training and nutrition," Beall-McKelvey said. "I kept getting better at it and then after Denali, I was strong enough to do Everest."

All Seven Summits present their own challenges. You have different terrain, weather and atmospheres. In Vinson in Antarctica, for instance, you're facing temperatures that are well below freezing and brutal. On the peak of Kosciuszko, you can face winds upwards of more than 40 miles per hour.

But the toughest for Beall-McKelvey was Denali and Everest.

"In Denali, you're carrying so much weight and it's just crushing, and Everest is hard because it's super dangerous and it's a two-month expedition," Beall-McKelvey said.

While both were among the toughest, Everest was the hardest for Beall-McKelvey given the fact she had to battle a lung infection on the first summit rotation.

"I wasn't sure if I could get back up there, but I recovered and summited it on the last day of the season," Beall-McKelvey "So it was so incredibly difficult, I have to say Everest just because of what I went through over there. The odds were so stacked against me being able to pull that off.

"Being away from your home and living in a tent for two months is really a lot. It wears on you and add in sickness and it's super exposed," Beall-McKelvey added. "It's the deadliest season on Everest too, 17 people died over there. That was hard to see."

When Beall-McKelvey finally reached the summit on Kosciuszko to complete the Seven Summits, the immediate emotions came out. She instantly began crying alongside her husband and children who were with her.

"That made the whole thing magical because they have to put up with me being gone for five years and so many injuries. To have them walking up there, have us all four up there together on the top, it was super emotional and I'm super grateful," Beall-McKelvey said.

Due to it being the holiday time in Australia when she summited Kosciuszko, there were a lot of people in line for the summit and they saw Beall-McKelvey with a giant No. 7 red balloon and started cheering for her.

"We hung out up there for awhile, even though it was 50 mile-per-hour winds up there," Beall-McKelvey said.

Each summit that Beall-McKelvey did was through the help of Summit for Sound, which Beall-McKelvey founded. The organization helps provide hearing aids to young children and adults who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it. Through her seven treks, Beall-McKelvey has raised more than $250,000 through Summit for Sound.

Beall-McKelvey decided when she climbed Kilimanjaro that she would give free hearing aids to adults and children to those who couldn't afford it, and thus was born Summit for Sound.

"All this support came out. With each climb, I would do another Summit for Sound campaign," Beall-McKelvey said. "In total, I raised more than $250,000 for the foundation. That will give thousands of families free hearing aids across the state of Pennsylvania and also nationally. We help anybody and people can just walk into any Miracle Ear location, Pennsylvania or not, and ask if they can apply to get the hearing aid. So there's no barrier for anybody to receive hearing help."

Beall-McKelvey has been involved with the Miracle Ear Foundation since 1993 and she vividly remembers the first time she fit a young girl for a hearing aid. The girl was shy and had terrible hearing loss and the family was unfortunately low income. Beall-McKelvey put the hearing aid in her ear and she instantly lit up.

"She could hear in school and became confident and I witness this first had. I never experienced anything like this having an impact like that," Beall-McKelvey said. "I just continued the last 30 years to fit as many people as I can and make it a culture point in our organization where it's mandatory. We do outreach in every community and give back to the community. Nobody gets paid, but it feels so good."