SNOLAB staff and Scientists welcomed Adventurer Meagan McGrath

Meagan had the opportunity to tour the underground lab and our staff had the opportunity to here of her latest adventure in the Antarctic. Meagan was a good sport in answering our countless questions and our staff was thrilled at the opportunity to interact with Meagan.

By visiting SNOLAB, Meagan has increased her total altitude travelled by an additional 5660 ft! (SNOLAB is located 6800 ft underground) In total, Meagan has climbed to the top of Everest and all the way down to SNOLAB, almost 35,000 ft (10 573m) in total!

Major Meagan McGrath was born in Toronto, in 1977, 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. On August 15, 2005 Major McGrath was posted to the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre Ottawa Detachment, the Air Force Experimentation Centre. Most recently, Maj McGrath has been working on the implementation of a Canadian Forces-wide logistics tool.

Since 2002, Meagan McGrath has climbed many peaks throughout the world, in an attempt to climb the “Seven Summits” – the highest peak on each continent. On 21 May 2007, Meagan summitted Mount Everest (29 029 ft), achieving her goal to climb the Seven Summits (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.

On January 15, 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 Antartica.

SNOLAB wishes Meagan the best of luck as she continues to pursue her dream to climb the highest peaks in the world.