Maltese migrant to attempt Mt Everest climb

Elizabeth Ann Pace, 38, who resides in New York, is attempting to be the first Maltese to climb Mount Everest - the world's highest peak at 29,035 feet - next spring.

An avid mountain climber, she has already summited some of the highest mountains in North America, as well as the highest mountains in Africa and South America.

The climb would be a case of "Maltese history in the making" as, to date, no Maltese has ever summited, or attempted to climb Everest. Ms Pace is hoping to be the first to fly the Maltese flag from its peak.

She is trying to generate the money required to go on the expedition and has requested financial assistance from the government and private companies, seeking exposure primarily in North America.

Ms Pace's idea is to share her experience with Maltese schoolchildren.

"My climb is being dedicated to the children of Malta in the hope that it could capture their imagination and inspire them to seek adventures of their own.

"I want to give the children of Malta and Gozo the opportunity to follow, via the internet, the first Maltese person ever to climb Everest," she said.

Ms Pace and her climbing partner in the US are working hard to get schoolchildren involved in following the climb via the internet - not only to learn about Everest, but also about Nepal, American and Nepalese cultures, the Sherpa community, history and geography related to Nepal and Mount Everest, and mountaineering, nutrition and exercise.

The site - www.audible.com - will carry audio transmissions, letters and photos during the expedition.

Ms Pace is proposing weekly transmissions to classrooms throughout the climb - from Katmandu to Base Camp and then, hopefully, from the summit - allowing the students to follow her progress, ask questions and gain valuable information.

She has also proposed a pre- and a post-expedition trip to Malta and Gozo to visit schools and meet the students to discuss both the mental and physical training required.

Her climbing partner, Joseph Hughes from New Jersey, is working with New Jersey schools to provide a similar experience to their students. The schools are thrilled about the opportunity of offering their students an enriching experience, she said, confident that Maltese schools would have the same reaction. Presentations to launch the programme in the US schools start at the end of the month and are targeting children aged between eight and 12.

Ms Pace has already met the Maltese ambassador to the US, John Lowell, who has expressed his enthusiasm.

Born in Malta in 1965, Ms Pace left for the US in 1984. Since then, she has worked in clinical laboratories and also as an art dealer.

Over the past years, Ms Pace has developed a love for the outdoors, which has grown from hiking to backpacking and rock climbing in the Catskill and Adirondack regions of New York to mountaineering. She has recently taken up mountain biking, kayaking and biathlon racing.

In 2001, Ms Pace took a trip to Tanzania, where she attempted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet) - which she described as an "amazing" experience.

"The climb was physically and mentally challenging but reaching the summit was incredible and well worth the effort," she said.

Ms Pace studied mountaineering in a seminar-climb on Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) in Washington and on Mount Washington (6,288 feet) in New Hampshire. In January, she travelled to Argentina to join an expedition in an attempt to climb Mount Aconcagua (22,841 feet), the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and one of the Seven Summits of the World.

The "difficult" climb took a total of 19 days and she succeeded in reaching the summit, proud to be one of the four climbers to make it to the top out of eight... and the only woman.

Now, her greatest ambition is to climb the highest mountain in the world, carrying her nation's flag all the way to the summit, "God willing!".