“ASPIRE TO GREAT HEIGHTS”
Being a full time RCAF member and an Adventurer is a difficult balance, but when you love something – it’s worth the effort. Join Major Meagan McGrath as she recounts the challenges and the achievement of difficult goals while she aspires to great heights and embarks on exciting adventures.
Since 2002, Meagan McGrath has climbed many peaks throughout the world. In May 2007, Meagan summitted Mount Everest, achieving her goal to climb the Seven Summits – the highest peak on each continent (Kosciuszko version). In January 2008, she became the First Canadian Woman to summit the Carstenz Pyramid version of this mountain challenge, becoming the only Canadian woman to achieve both versions of the Seven Summits. Mountains are Meagan’s passion, but she has always had a fascination with desert environments, both hot and cold. In January 2010, Meagan completed the first Canadian Solo Ski to the South Pole. Travelling over 1095km in 40 days, she hauled a sled weighing just over 200lbs across a vast area of Antarctica. Following her polar expedition, Meagan embarked on a 7.5 month journey to the Himalayas, where she attempted to climb 5 great Himalayan peaks. A test of her skill, daring and humility, Meagan applied her skills to succeed and to return safely home. She successfully summitted Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in the world, and in November 2011, reached the peak of beautiful Ama Dablam. As she pursues her love of adventure, whether it be bicycling across Canada or down the Pacific Coast Highway, she will always return to the mountains that she loves and safely reach their peaks. In January 2016, she was the Solider Team Captain for the True Patriot Love Foundation expedition to climb Vinson Massif (the highest mountain in Antarctica) – the expedition was in support of the foundation’s mission to improve the lives of veterans and their families, and was an enormous success! She currently has two expeditions in development – the adventure continues!
Major Meagan McGrath was born in Toronto, and raised in Sudbury, Ontario. She enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1995, and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2000, with a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry). Upon completion of her Aerospace Engineering training, Major McGrath served for a short time as the Maintenance Support Officer at 19 Air Maintenance Squadron, CFB Comox. She was then posted to Ottawa in 2001, where she worked as an Imaging Radar System Engineer, a sub-project of the Aurora Incremental Modernization Project. In 2005, Major McGrath was posted to the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre Ottawa Detachment, the Air Force Experimentation Centre and worked as an Experiment Planner and Experiment Team Lead. She then worked for a short time on the implementation of a Canadian Forces-wide logistics tool prior to embarking on a year of Leave Without Pay. She has been the Standards and Support Squadron Commander at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering in Bordon, Ontario; has served in Afghanistan as a mentor to the Director of Education at the Afghan Air Force University; and has completed a posting in 1 Canadian Air Division as a maintenance coordinator for the RCAF maritime and tactical fleets. She is currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff Logistics Coordinator and the Alaska Command Liaison Officer at Joint Task Force North in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.