Greg Hill

Skibergsteiger

"In ski mountaineering, you can explore your own limits. Nothing is predetermined. There are endless mountains and places to discover. You can take different routes to the summit and choose the best way back to the valley. Depending on your comfort zone, anything is possible. It is both a mental and a physical experience. Up there, it is peaceful. A very versatile sport – you never just go straight ahead!"
Greg Hill – Ski Mountaineer

Greg Hill is a ski mountaineer who has set numerous records. In 2010, he achieved an incredible 600,000 vertical meters on skis.

History
In 2010, he achieved an incredible 600,000 vertical meters on skis. This feat required a daily ascent of 2,286 meters over 275 ski days. For 77 days, Hill was above the 3,000-meter mark. To keep track of the elevation changes and validate his record claim, Greg Hill naturally used a Suunto device. This is just one of the many records set by the Canadian. According to him, he still experiences the same joy he felt as a child when he skipped school to ski in the powder. "It's that feeling of absolute excitement," he says, "a completely carefree sense of happiness."

During a summer job as a tree planter, Hill discovered his endurance capabilities. "We were paid by the number of trees planted," he recalls. "That's why it was always about giving everything from the first moment." Hill planted up to 1,500 saplings a day, but his personal best was 3,600.

"I learned real perseverance there."

By his own estimate, Hill has planted over 1 million trees in total. This endurance paid off when he found his true calling in the mountains – and his path to new altitude records and pioneering descents. To date, he has climbed more than 190 mountains on skis.

"In ski mountaineering, you can explore your own limits. There are endless mountains and places to discover," he says.

Currently, his only goal is to explore the breathtaking mountain ranges of his home, British Columbia. The region has 75 peaks over 3,000 meters, and some of these summits have never been skied. "Some peaks are very difficult to reach – a lifelong goal that requires a lot of time and preparation," says Hill. But if anyone is the perfect candidate for these conquests, it's the man who skied 600,000 vertical meters in one year.

FACTS

Greg Hill
Name: Greg Hill