King of the Hill Roel Goerts Eyes a Comeback (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: See this hill? It's a dirt climb so steep that most riders don't even make it halfway. They slide straight back down. Roel Goerts is one of the only riders to ever reach the top. Last year, he did it four times in one day, earning him the title King of the Hill.

[00:00:16] Speaker 2: Yeah, they know it because every year they put it on the paper news and with picture and everything. So I'm a little bit famous about that. The feeling if you made the top is pretty unbelievable.

[00:00:32] Speaker 1: The challenge is not part of a professional competition. There are no prizes and no officials. For Roel, it began as a bet.

[00:00:40] Speaker 2: So it's a bet for a can of beer and it's exploded complete. And I made the top, yeah, and then it all started.

[00:00:49] Speaker 1: He first attempted the climb in 2019 and has returned to this hill every year since. But last year, tragedy stopped him from competing.

[00:00:58] Speaker 2: February 2025, we were on ski holiday in Ossia and we get a call in the night from the neighbors that the house is burning. Everything was burned down. Then we coming back from the holiday and everything was gone to the last pieces.

[00:01:19] Speaker 1: Now he's preparing to return to the hill again.

[00:01:22] Speaker 2: My mom is saying she hate it. If I say I do next year again, she almost kill me.