When Greg Hill picks a challenge he looks up, way up. The backcountry skier and mountaineer will attempt to ski 328,000 vertical feet (100,000 vertical meters) in March, 2014.
Hill’s “100k March Madness Challenge” will begin on On March 1, 2014. To succeed, he must log an average of 10,583 vertical feet (measured up and down) every day. Making the undertaking even more impressive, he’s doing it entirely in the back country and going to new areas each day, so no, he’s not lapping groomers.
“It will be a month of exploring and pounding vertical in difficult areas – nothing will be repeated,” Hill said. “And I won’t be wearing Lycra! This is about fat ski shredding north American style.”
There’s no known record like this in the books, but in 2010 Hill, a Suunto-sponsored athlete, gained recognition for his “Greg Hill 2 Mil” campaign, in which he logged two million vertical feet ski-mountaineering in one year. Hill’s 24-hour record is 50 thousand vertical feet.
If successful, he will set a personal record for vertical distance skied in a month.
Hill is still finalizing the challenge. He plans to ski-mountaineer 30 summits during a multi-day traverse through the backcountry of British Columbia, Canada, near his home in Revelstoke.
“Ski-mountaineering is a place where you can explore your own limit,” Hill says. “There’s a mental aspect and a physical side. It’s peaceful up there too.”
Follow Hill on Facebook, twitter @GregHill2Mil and Movescount, Suunto’s online sports community, where his tracks and vital stats will be uploaded.
—Sean McCoy
