LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Prosecutor Sets Sights High: Peak of Mt. Everest

A county prosecutor hopes to crack one of his toughest cases ever, halfway around the world and 29,148 feet up.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Pfau is heading a nine-climber team bound for the top of Mt. Everest. “I don’t mean to sound trite, but we all have our Mount Everests,” Pfau said. “This is just a little more exotic.”

The climb is just part of the adventure, Pfau said. Raising money came first. Authorities in Nepal initially asked for a $3,000 permit fee, but eventually raised their price to $50,000. Then there was the equipment, about five tons worth. Pfau’s group, which has been climbing together for at least a year, held fund-raisers, sold T-shirts and led vacation hikes to pay for the expedition, which Pfau estimates will cost $250,000.

Pfau said it will take about two months to climb from the lower base camp, at 17,500 feet, to the summit. The group plans to reach the top of Everest in May and return to Los Angeles on June 8.