LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- On his first attempt to scale Africa's tallest mountain, Las Cruces businessman David Hill failed. His leg fractured about 4,000 feet from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and he had to be carried down the mountain.
Hill, now 62, is the owner of Ride On Sports, a sports accessory store for biking, hiking, backpacking and other activities. He was determined to head back to Africa and take a picture atop the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.
In December, less than three years after suffering the debilitating injury, Hill successfully summited Mount Kilimanjaro, which stands 19,341 feet tall.
"So many people have said to me, 'You inspire me to do this and do that,'" Hill told the Las Cruces Sun-News. "That wasn't my purpose, but I'm certainly glad that people are inspired."
First attempt and rehabilitation
Hill said when he started trail running -- a combination of running and hiking -- about five years ago, summiting Kilimanjaro soon became a goal of his. Hiking the numerous trails in the Mesilla Valley was his training.
In January 2019, he made his way to Tanzania for the first time with his brother-in-law, who is also a hiker. Hill explained that there are about eight trails up Kilimanjaro ranging from four to nine days. He and his brother-in-law partnered with the local guide group Zara Tours and ventured up on the seven-day path.
On the fifth day, Hill slipped and his left tibia snapped. Rain was pouring down, and he said there was no way for an evacuation team to reach them. Hill said Salim, a trail guide, carried him on his back down to about 11,000 feet in elevation to meet the evacuation team.
"There I was laying instead of summiting," Hill remembers. He flew back home several days later in a full cast.
Back home, he started an Instagram account to document his recovery and time in physical therapy. After undergoing corrective surgery to address the trauma to his leg, he ended up with a 6-inch metal plate and nine screws. Recovery along with physical therapy took nearly a year, but by the end of 2019 Hill said he wasn't making progress.
"They went and had an MRI on the knee, and I had ruptured my ACL. So I don't have an ACL, I had torn my PCL and I tore my meniscus," Hill said.
Doctors agreed that operating would not fix the damage, so Hill had to "embrace" using a carbon fiber brace which now acts as the stabilizer for his knee.
About a year ago, Hill said he brought up attempting Kilimanjaro again with his family. The response was overwhelming support.
"I set up a training schedule for six months which included four 3-mile runs a week, one 6-mile run a week," Hill said.
He also joined a friend trail running the southwest peaks and hiked the Organ Needle every three weeks for vertical training. By mid-November, he ventured up the Needle one more time and said he realized he was physically ready for Africa.
"I did the Needle hike all by myself and it was 4 hours and 15 minutes, which is up and down which is extremely fast. I realized going up that I was not fatigued at all. It was simply just doing it," he said.
Second attempt
Hill started up Mount Kilimanjaro again Dec. 6, with nearly the same group of guides who took him on his original attempt. The group followed a four-day path this time. He said he reached the summit before sunrise Dec. 9 and was the second person who reached the summit that day.
"It was just kind of one of those moments where I'd been working on it for so long. It had been such a focus, and there was such a relief. I mean, I had such a great time, and there was no physical issues," he said.
And now that he's accomplished his long-held goal, Hill said he doesn't feel the need to go back again. That chapter has ended, and he's ready to take on his next challenges. He and a friend have plans to climb Mount Whitney in California in early spring and then travel 40 miles from rim to rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.