At 51 Vicky Jack became the oldest British woman to climb Everest on 16 May 2004 (her first attempt in 2003 failed due to bad weather).

This also marked her becoming the first Scottish woman to climb the 'Seven Summits', the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.

Vicky began climbing in her early 30s after a visit from American friends made her realise that she 'didn't know Scotland that well'.

In an interview she states that she 'was so embarrassed I thought I had to do something about it. I figured that if I climbed all the Munros — the 283 hills in Scotland over 3,000 feet — I'd get to know the country'.

Seven Summits

After completing all the Munros, Vicky then set out to climb the Seven Summits:

• Kilimanjaro in Africa
• Mount Vinson in Antarctica
• Mount Everest in Asia
• Carstensz Pyramid in Australasia
• Mount Elbrus in Europe
• Mount McKinley in North America
• Aconcagua in South America.

In outlining her motivation for this, she says:

'Once I'd finished the Munros it was a case of, "Well now what?". A friend suggested that I climb the highest peak in Europe. I began looking for a guide to take me up Mont Blanc but soon learnt it wasn't Europe's highest peak — it's Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus in Russia.

'Coming down from Elbrus I was asked if I was doing the Seven Summits.

'My heart just leapt and I knew my next goal.'

Vicky Jack