1,000,000-Plus

In 2004-05, Greg Hill from B.C. climbed and skied 1 million vertical feet (up and down, earning turns the whole way) in 145 skiing days, averaging a little under 7,000 vertical feet per day. Do a little mental exercise and imagine your favorite backcountry tour or ski resort, and then imagine climbing 7,000 vertical feet there. Now try to imagine doing it for 145 days. (Some days were much bigger: Hill's topper that season was over 40,000 feet in a day.) Amazing. So what does he do next? Raise the stakes.

This season, the aptly named Hill is trying to climb and ski at least 10,000 vertical feet for 100 days. Ai-yi-yi! On Saturday, he should get a major boost to the ol' average. Hill will race in the 24 Hours of Sunlight in western Colorado, where, last year, he and partner Jimmy Faust climbed and skied 50,100 feet in 24 hours. With lighter skis and a refined game plan, Hill is gunning for more this year. If he has a goal, he's not saying, but it's likely to be huge.

Check out Greg Hill's blog of his ski outings for inspirational photos and fun accounts of what it's like to ski BIG. Enjoy, but don't try to understand.