At her peak: Adelaide’s Dr Rebecca Heah completes the Seven-Summits Challenge

She’s the second South Aussie woman to complete the Seven Summits Challenge, but when it comes to pushing herself, Dr Rebecca Heah is only at her halfway point.

Dr Rebecca Heah says it was “literally breathtaking” when she removed her oxygen mask at the top of Mount Everest in May this year.

“I just wanted to experience what it was like to breathe in oxygen and at a very, very reduced capacity,” she told the Sunday Mail.

It was no easy feat, however, she did it only after having spent the nine years before trekking and climbing the seven highest peaks of each continent on earth.

The Adelaide “born and bred” completed the Seven Summits Challenge, which first began in 2014 when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with a friend on somewhat of a whim.

Mt Kilimanjaro 5895m Tanzania, Africa Dr Rebecca Heah, (With friend Dr Rachael Kermond) summit time 5:45am Picture: Supplied

“We were very unprepared at the time and we didn’t actually train for it,” she said.

“We didn’t know what the effects of the altitude were going to be like, but we actually climbed that mountain successfully.

“We had to actually duct tape our shoes because we didn’t have water proof shoes because of how underprepared we were for that mountain.”

After that, Dr Heah said her interest in mountaineering started “snowballing” and she then went on to climb Mera Peak in Nepal, before starting the Seven Summits Challenge, which also includes Mount Elbrus in Russia, Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Denali in North America, Aconcagua in South America and Mount Kosciusko in Australia.

Ladder crossing through icefall Picture: Supplied

Rebecca Heahon summit of Mount Everest 2023 Picture: Supplied

Once she got used to mountaineering, Dr Heah said she further educated herself on the dangers and risks associated with the extreme sport.

“You try to mitigate risk everywhere you can, so in terms of preparation, I obviously did other climbs that were less extreme in the build up to Everest,” she said.

“It’s all about training, preparing yourself physically and mentally to climb these mountains, and it’s also about preparing your loved ones as well.

“Making sure that you’re gonna go home, you don’t realise the stress that you put your parents, your partner and your family and friends through until you get back.”

Rebecca Heah on summit of Vinson Massif 4892m, Antarctica Picture: Supplied

While at Everest Base Camp in May, she met fellow South Aussie mountaineer, Jason Kennison by chance, sadly, just before he died while descending Everest.

“I did meet him quite a few times. First at Base Camp and then I also met him on a climatisation hike,” she said.

“He was a lovely gentleman and it’s very sad that he passed away and my condolences go out to his family because that would be the most heartbreaking phone call for them to receive.”

Dr Heah also undertook the Challenge to raise funds for Interplast Australia and New Zealand, which helps repair bodies and rebuild lives for people living with treatable disabilities in developing countries across the Asia-Pacific region.

Interplast Australia and New Zealand Flag: Everest Base Camp Trekking Rock 5364m: Left to Right: Lisa Jelly (UK), Peter Lethbridge (NZ), Anna Ott (Germany), Rebecca Heah (Australia), Hamish Overton (Australia), Trent Thorne (Australia).

She just returned to Australia “a couple of weeks ago” where she is working as an unaccredited registrar in orthopaedic surgery on the Gold Coast.

Only the second South Aussie woman to complete the Challenge, she is contemplating taking it further, following in the footsteps of Adelaide mountaineer Katie Sarah, who became the first woman in the world to complete the Seven-Seven challenge.

The Seven-Seven Challenge means summiting not only the highest mountain on every continent, but also their seven highest volcanic peaks as well.

“In terms of what’s next, there’s always the ‘grand slam’ which is skiing the last degree for the North and South Pole, but also there’s the volcanic summits,” she said.

“So there’s five volcanic summits I’ve got left to do, so we’re in talks at the moment and maybe a little cheeky volcano next year.”