It took 18-year-old Matthew Pace 10 hours to scale the Matterhorn, but it was only on his way down that he truly understood why it is one of the most difficult mountains in the Alps.
“We started climbing at 5am in complete darkness, so we were just focused on taking the right steps and not making any false moves,” he told Times of Malta after becoming the youngest Maltese to climb the mountain.
“I did feel a nervous vibe while putting on the gear before the climb, but the adrenalin rush and sheer drops to your left and right ensure you stay focused.
With the peak always in sight, Pace and his friend Daniel Lichy could not afford giving up.“
And it was only on our way down that we started realising what we had climbed and wondering how we had managed to climb up in the first place.”
It was Pace’s first time scaling such a difficult mountain, and he believes that climbing it in memory of his second cousin Rebecca Zammit Lupi, who sadly died earlier this year, made the whole experience meaningful.
The 15-year-old, whose battle with cancer was chronicled by her father and award-winning photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, is remembered by many for her resilience.
And it was her story of resilience that inspired Pace, who will always remember her freckled face, rather shy personality and strong fighting spirit.
“Rebecca was a big part of the journey that I went through with my friend Daniel.“I had heard from her mother Marisa that Rebecca would like to climb mountains and her father Darrin had taken a photo of her as a baby when he climbed Kilimanjaro… so I told them I’ll take Rebecca up a second time to an even harder mountain.
“Without Rebecca in mind, I don’t think the whole experience would have been so meaningful and it would have been far more challenging. The fact Rebecca was always in my thoughts and memory really helped me and Daniel get up to the summit.”
Matthew Pace (right) with his friend Daniel Lichy (left).
Darrin Zammit Lupi took a photo of his daughter Rebecca when he climbed the Kilimanjaro.