Sun Valley Magazine
Benji Hill
Hunter and survival guide finds freedom in letting go
July, 2021
KITT DOUCETTE
On November 29th, 2003, an unknown powerlifter from Sun Valley, Idaho, named Benji Hill, walked into the Weightlifting World Championships in Calgary, Alberta. It was his golden birthday, and from the moment he woke up that morning, things felt right. For one, he wasn’t nervous at all. His body felt good. Strong and confident, he was totally at peace. Nobody expected him to even make it to the world championships. He had nothing to prove. There was no pressure. “It was just me versus me,” Hill says, “and that’s exactly the way I like it.”
Picking up the morning newspaper, he checked his horoscope. “All the stars are aligned in your favor,” it told him. “Today, you can do no wrong.” He believed it, and on weightlifting’s biggest stage, he absolutely sent it—winning the competition, stunning his competitors, and becoming a world champion in the 225-pound weight class. “I hit every lift I tried,” he says, still shaking his head in a certain amount of wonder about how it all went down that fateful day. “I also set my personal records for deadlift—705 lbs.; squat—766 lbs.; and bench—501 lbs., on the same day.” For those who know, this type of performance is damn near impossible. Especially for a “scrawny kid from Idaho who played soccer in high school and everyone told didn’t have the right body type and wasn’t built for powerlifting,” says Hill with a laugh.
After his legendary victory, Hill walked away from weight lifting competition. “That was my last day competing,” he says. “I was tired of all the training and eating and gym time. I wanted to get back to my roots and my love of the outdoors.”
Benji Hill (at left), his wife, Erin, and friend Ryan Smalls head into the Pioneer Mountains with a herd of pack goats.
Goats and Margaritas
Why pack goats are the ultimate backcountry companion
October, 2021
AARON HILL
When my brother Benji Hill first told me he was getting pack goats, my first words were, “Huh? Goats?” A response which, I now know, is shared by many when someone first suggests bringing goats along on a backcountry adventure.
Benji persevered. “Goats are easy to take care of, and they carry all your gear for you into the backcountry. Better yet, they don’t need any food out there. They eat grass and are like Labradors, just following you around.”
I was A-OK with the idea of someone else schlepping my gear for me on our summer backcountry trip into the Sawtooths and our fall elk hunts into the Pioneer Mountains. Truthfully, I was wondering if that meant I could add a little more weight in the packs for some hearty meals, a good sleeping pad, and perhaps a bottle of tequila for after the day’s hunt.
Benji had bought a small goat-packing outfit called Goat Pro Idaho out of Boise, and with it came the first three goats. Elvis, Sanuk and Beavis were a few of the early members of the crew gathered from others in the goat-packing community, a tight-knit group of folks that all are members of the North American Packgoat Association (napga.org).
Primal Power
JENNA RESKO
Benji Hill is passionate about quite a few things hunting, fishing, fitness, my sister-in-law and power lifting.
This past Saturday I went over to High Altitude Fitness (HAF) in Hailey to check out the Primal Power Raw Powerlifting Competition Benji helped put on.
Benji Hill is a Community School grad, a former ski racer at Montana State and World Champion Powerlifter (he won 220-pound weight class on his 29th birthday in 2003). So this meet wasn’t a huge change for Benji or his job as a Personal Trainer at HAF. From music to t-shirts to awards and food (catered by moms Margie Hill and Nancy Resko), Benji and HAF made sure the first (of what they hope will be many) powerlifting meets in the Wood River Valley was a success.