Pat Hiban, 42, of Clarksville, a real estate broker with Keller Williams Crossroads and Pat Hiban Real Estate Group in Ellicott City, just returned from a trip to Tanzania, where he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa at 19,340 feet.
He had made a friendly agreement with Howard County Executive Ken Ulman that he would reach the top, and Ulman gave him a county flag to fly at the summit — which he did. In return, Ulman this week issued a proclamation for Pat Hiban Day on July 21, the day he reached the summit.
Hiban is married to Kim Hiban and has two daughters: Heather, 13, and Kayli, 12.
He spoke to The Examiner about his journey to the top.
How did you prepare for the climb?
I walked up a lot of steps and ran in hilly areas.
I also did some training on the Appalachian Trail with some day hikes.
When you’re training, they tell you the hike takes about 16 hours, so they want you to work out and keep moving for 16 straight hours.
There were days where I had three cycling classes, did yoga, lifted weights and went swimming.
For at least 90 days, I was in some pretty intense training.
Did you ever have any doubts on the climb, and how did you overcome them?
I definitely had doubts on the climb, and I overcame them from the power of the subconscious mind.
I got to one high point where I felt ready to quit.
I wasn’t breathing properly and just not feeling right.
I kept wanting to go to sleep.
While I was walking up, because you’re pretty much in solitude, I kept saying to myself, “I’m a July 21st, 2008, summiter of Mount Kilimanjaro,” over and over again for hours.
What’s one thing most people don’t realize about climbing mountains?
Most people don’t realize that no matter how physically fit you are, altitude sickness and other factors can still affect you.
I didn’t expect the African food to be the way it was.
I didn’t really know what it was like to be at 19,000 feet and how it made me sleepy.
