Between 1997 and 2006 Fear climbed five of the world's fourteen 8,000 metre peaks. Her climbing career took off in 1997 when she led the first successful ascent by an Australian team of Makalu II (7,680 m) in Nepal. She followed this with ascents of Cho Oyu (8,201 m) in 1998 and Shishapangma (8,046 m) in 2002. In 2003, Fear climbed Everest (8,848 m) from the more difficult Tibetan side on the North Col. She was the first Australian-born woman and the second Australian woman overall to do so. She then successfully summitted Gasherbrum II (8,035 m) in Pakistan the following year (2004). Her final climb was to Manaslu (8,156 m) in 2006, which she successfully summited.