Hiking in the White Mountains: Mount Washington Hillclimb . . . Race to the Clouds

Date of Hike : 8/15/21

Crew-Cut Trail: 1.0 miles / Old Jackson Road: 0.5 miles / Sherburne Ski Trail: 2.0 miles / Tuckerman Ravine Trail: 1.7 miles / Roaming the Cone: 1.5 miles / Nelson Crag Trail: 3.3 miles / Old Jackson Road: 0.7 Miles / George's Gorge Trail: 0.3 miles / Liebeskind's Loop: 0.5 miles / Crew-Cut Trail: 0.6 miles

Total Miles: 12.2 (5,577' elevation gained)

Trip Report:

- Sunday afternoon's weather was phenomenal so we (Nate, Todd, and myself) headed up to the rockpile to watch the Mount Washington Hillclimb.

- The following is ripped word for word from the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb webpage (view page for more details). The race has a three-day format, with practice runs on half of the mountain on Friday and Saturday morning. The practice location on either the lower half or the upper half of the mountain depends on the weather.

- On race day, Sunday August 15, each competitor makes two full runs of the technical, steep, and winding mountain road — once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. The field of 80 cars leave the starting line one minute apart from each other to tackle the 7.6 mile Auto Road.

- The Auto Road is the oldest man-made attraction in the United States, and is driven by approximately 50k recreational vehicles each year. Today, it typically takes a car and driver about 30 minutes to reach the summit — this race is a rare chance to see extreme drivers test their mettle on this extraordinary terrain.

- “This road is such a challenge. It’s probably the toughest road to drive flat-out in the world.” — Travis Pastrana, following his record-setting drive July 9, 2017

- Also known as the "Climb to the Clouds", the Mt. Washington Hillclimb is the oldest automotive Hillclimb in North America. First run in July 1904, it took place seven years before the first 500 mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and twelve years prior to the inaugural Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado. The Climb to the Clouds was run sporadically from 1904-1961, then not again until 1990 when it was run consistently until 2001.

- Following a ten-year hiatus, the Mt. Washington Hillclimb returned in 2011 in support of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, which first opened on August 8, 1861. Since the 2011 event, the Hillclimb has taken place in 2014 and 2017.

- The current record for the race was set at the last Climb to the Clouds event in July 2017 by Travis Pastrana at a blistering 5 minutes and 44 seconds. For anyone who has driven the road this is an almost unfathomable feat! **He lowered his record by fifteen seconds on his morning run on August 15, 2021**

- With plenty of action from start to finish, spectators of this race will enjoy thrilling race action and views on the steep, curvy, and picturesque Mt. Washington Auto Road.

- As for us, we found a great spot to set up right at the finish line, with Todd doing color commentary on each car that finished. I honestly had no idea what I was looking at except when it came to some of the older vehicles that I could recognize. I found this to be the highlight of the afternoon, seeing some older cars cruise past the finish line, and by older I mean all the way back to the 1970's. (View list of racers, model, make, year)

- There was also a helicopter that followed some cars above treeline to the finish before circling around the summit and diving down from the summit cone over the Alpine Garden and down towards the Cragway turn.

- Once the race ended we rock hopped down the Nelson Crag Trail, veering off onto the Alpine Garden Trail to just before its end at the auto road to watch the cars make their way down. Once all the race cars passed by we resumed rock hopping enjoying the nice afternoon weather on the way back to Wildcat Ski Area.