Mt. Washington Auto Road announces 2004 Climb to the Clouds Centennial Celebration

Mount Washington Auto Road is sponsoring a five-day event, July 8 through 12, to mark the 100-year anniversary of the first Mount Washington Hillclimb auto race, also known as the "Climb to the Clouds." First run on July 12, 1904 and recognized as America's oldest motorsports event, the Climb to the Clouds pre-dated the Indianapolis 500, first held in 1911, and the inaugural Pikes Peak Hillclimb of 1916. The race was held on and off through 1961 and then took a 29-year hiatus and ran again from 1990 to 2001. The "race course" was the historic Mount Washington Auto Road, America's oldest man-made attraction located in Pinkham Notch. The event was a timed auto race up the steep and narrow Mount Washington Auto Road to the summit of 6,288-foot Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast. The road has an average grade of 12 percent with sections as steep as an 18 percent grade. The race was originally created by early auto manufacturers to showcase their new inventions on what was then known as the Mount Washington Carriage Road, considered to be the ultimate site to prove the ability of these now historic vehicles. In the first Climb to the Clouds, held on July 12, 1904, Harry Harkness drove a Mercedes up the 7.4-mile course in 24 minutes, 37 seconds. This was deemed to be remarkable when compared to the 2 hours, 10 minutes it took F. O. Stanley in the Stanley Locomoble, the first automobile up the Auto Road in 1899. Over the years, the event grew to include a very broad range of vehicles and drivers from all over the world. Frank Sprongl's course record of 6 minutes 41.99 seconds set in 1998 and Jerry Driscoll's incredible top speed of 113 mph in 1999 stand as two of the more memorable milestones on the Auto Road. Plans for the 100-year anniversary commemorative event for 2004 are taking shape. Mount Washington Auto Road General Manager, Howie Wemyss, described some of the activities planned. "Over the five-day period we will celebrate the history of the Mount Washington Auto Road, automotive history, and the 100-year span of the Climb to the Clouds," he said. "We are inviting drivers with a history in the Climb to the Clouds and owners of vintage cars built prior to 1961 to join us for the event. Spectators will be able to see these timeless and important vehicles during the weekend. Nineteen sixty one was a significant year in the history of the Auto Road it marked the Road's 100-year anniversary and was the last year the Climb to the Clouds race was held until 1990." The weekend will be marked by two significant automotive events. On Saturday, in conjunction with the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA), an early morning vintage car hillclimb to treeline will be held on the Auto Road. On Monday, July 12, the actual centennial date, the Stanley Museum of Kingfield, Maine, and Estes Park, Colo. helps celebrate the occasion, as up to 80 steamer cars are expected to visit the Auto Road. Other plans for the 2004 Climb to the Clouds Centennial Celebration include special driving tours, a display of historic Mount Washington Auto Road memorabilia, fireworks, barbecues, and a Mount Washington Auto Road Stage Driver reunion. Drivers of the guided tours are still called "Stage Drivers" after the drivers of the horse-drawn stages of the past. The last day of the celebration will feature a "parade" up the Auto Road to mark the actual date of the original race. Opened in 1861 as the "Mount Washington Carriage Road," the Auto Road hosts thousands of visitors each year who travel to the summit of Mount Washington in their own vehicles or by taking a guided tour in an Auto Road van.