A lawyer and mountaineer has conquered the most-photographed mountain in the world: the steep Matterhorn, located in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy.

Raphael Fenech Adami, 54, is possibly the first Maltese to conquer the 4,476-metre Swiss peak, managing after a couple of aborted, previous attempts. He was also part of the team which conquered Mount Everest last year and has climbed a number of mountains, including Island Peak in the Himalayas and Mount Elbrus in Russia with experienced mountaineer Gregory Attard.

Speaking to The Sunday Times of Malta as soon as he landed in Malta, Dr Fenech Adami said the Matterhorn was more difficult than Mount Everest as the route was a more technical one. “The Matterhorn is completely exposed. With Everest, we had a fixed rope from the beginning until the end. But the Matterhorn did not have fixed ropes throughout the entire climb.”

When I descended I said to myself: ‘Never again’

Dr Fenech Adami chose to ascend from the Italian side of the mountain, which is more technical and complex than the more regularly used Swiss side.

He had previously attempted to climb it during the third week of August but the inclement weather did not enable a safe climb.

Not to be thwarted, he left a message with the guide to let him know if a suitable weather window opened up – which it did this week.

“Usually, mountaineers climb up to the Refugio (a mountain hut), spend the night there and then head to the summit the next morning. I went straight up to the summit, which took me about nine hours, and then spent the night at the hut on my way down.”

He summited on Wednesday at 3pm – but did not experience the elation of conquering the peak at that point in time. “At the time, I was worried about the descent, which is harder than the ascent. It’s very technical and facing a valley, making it very exposed.”

He had to make his way along a two-foot ridge with a massive drop on both sides. “You just look at your feet and make sure you’re walking in a straight line.”

It was only after landing in Malta two days ago that the scale of the feat began to sink in.

“When I descended I said to myself: ‘Never again’.”

But 24 hours later, he was already planning his next climb – although he would not be coaxed into revealing which mountain will be next...