Thought I'd share a couple videos from the PA Hillclimb circuit this season. This kind of racing is surprisingly easy to get into. If you've done track days and the danger of racing on public roads doesn't bother you, all you need is some extra safety gear (roll bar, fire suit, fire extinguisher, etc...) and a big pair of ***** Come out and join us!

Check out PAHillclimb.net for more info.

 

Whoah, super short climb. Looks like fun! How much is it to enter?

 

Ohh yea, our hills are just that... hills. Big difference from the mountains out west. Our longest hill is a little over 2 minutes. Entry fee is usually around $150, which is for both Saturday and Sunday. You usually get between 6 and 16 runs, depending on how the event goes.

 

Haha, yeah. I just came back from Pikes Peak which blew my mind. I want to race in one of these events now..

 

The vids look awesome. I would love doing something like that.

 

video looks awesome, but there are plenty of mountain roads longer and much more complex in that area.. my family is from mineral county

 

What are "hills"?

 

I go to these 2. The duryea is the same as the pagoda except it goes all the way to the fire tower. Google Duryea hill climb Reading, PA.

 

There are, but the requirements for a road to be used for a hillclimb are tricky. The most obvious is that it must be almost exclusively uphill, it also has to have barely any homes or businesses on it (any that are must be willing to not have access to their home or business for an entire weekend without compensation... usually that only happens if they happen to be fans of the sport.) and finally, it must be "safe." Obviously our definition of safe is a lot different than most, but it still has to meet some basic criteria to make insuring the event feasible.

Ohh, and it also needs to be in a decent location. We used to do one on the back road that goes up to Snow Shoe, WV but its out in the middle of nowhere, it was a great road but too long of a drive from civilization, no one showed up.

 

Damn that looks like a perfect way to spend a weekend. Out here, the only paved hillclimb in CO is Pikes Peak, the rest are on dirt as far as I know. I'd love to drive a short paved course like that.

 

I have looked into the New England hillclimb events in VT and NH. I am tempted, but some of them look a bit too hard core for my ***** driving.

 

rt 219 rt 50 and 220 all have little to no residential, but you got me on the middle of no where part. all of them are a blast even in my N/a mx3 if you ever want to go umm.. practice?

 

Do you guys do any in the Pittsburgh area?

 

We do time trials at Pittsburgh International Race Complex on both the North Track and the Wilson Circuit (the kart track). The Wilson Circuit time trial is ridiculously fun, I highly recommend it. Basically an autocross on steroids.

The closest hill climb to Pittsburgh is Polish Mtn. in Flinstone, MD. More info here

 

I'm guessing it's an SCCA sanctioned event?

 

Correct. SCCA sanctions 4 levels of time trials. Hillclimbs are the top tear.

Level 1 - PDX
Level 2 - Club Trials
Level 3 - Track Trials
Level 4 - Hillclimb