White 1994 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution II race car number 317 climbing a guardrail-free section of the Mount Washington Auto Road in New Hampshire, with evergreens and mountainside behind it.
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Granddaddy of Hill Climbs Has a Record Weekend

ByKevin Nguyen
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Take a road trip anywhere in New England, and you’re likely to see a bumper sticker proclaiming, “This car climbed Mt. Washington.” Recently, thousands of spectators watched 80 bold souls storm up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, but they were chasing headlines and bragging rights, not bumper stickers.

The chasing took place Aug. 7-9 in Gorham, NH, at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb, also known as the “Climb to the Clouds.” Unlike wheel-to-wheel auto races, hill climbs pit drivers against the clock. The course was the Mt. Washington Auto Road, a 7.6-mile ribbon of asphalt with a 12 percent average grade and well over 100 turns (many overlooking steep ravines). Competitors in 12 different vehicle classes climbed 4,723 feet from Mt. Washington’s 1,565-foot base to its 6,288-foot (above sea level) peak.

That peak has been challenging drivers since 1904, making it America’s first hill climb and one of the country’s oldest motorsports events. Mt. Washington was hosting record-breaking runs and bragging-rights blitzes seven years before the first Indianapolis 500 and a dozen years before the first Pikes Peak Hillclimb, according to its organizers.

Despite its longevity, the Climb to the Clouds is not as well-known and certainly not as iconic as many other racing events. That’s probably because it has not been run regularly. Nobody seems to have a list of all the winners or even know how many times it has been run. Organizers say it was run sporadically from 1904-1961, then not again until 1990 when it was run consistently (about every three years) until 2001. It was held again in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2021.

Spectators standing around a white Nissan Skyline GT-R race car with its hood up under a red Nissan team canopy in a grass paddock with green mountains behind.
Fans/Spectators are able to approach race teams, drivers, and view competition vehicles up close.

The race was scheduled to be held again in 2024, but those plans were put on hold when the race’s longtime champion and Mt. Washington Auto Road marketing director, Paul Giblin, passed away in 2022. The 2026 edition was officially named “The Paul Giblin Memorial Climb to the Clouds Race” in his honor. Race organizers praised Giblin over the weekend, calling him “the heart and soul” of the hill climb and crediting him with being instrumental in reviving the event in 1990 after a 29-year hiatus and helping run it for three ensuing decades.

What Giblin helped build over those decades is an event that attracts competitors from a wide area. Most were from New England, but there were also drivers from California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina, and elsewhere. There were even a few Pikes Peak veterans. They came to New Hampshire to race everything from daily commuters to purpose-built rally cars. Their cars created a chorus of combustion on Mt. Washington throughout the weekend.

Porsche 911 race car in a red, white, and blue pop-art livery with Mobil 1 branding accelerating up a bend on the tree-lined Mount Washington Auto Road.
Jeff Zwart (commercial film director, photographer, and Pikes Peak racer) coming all the way from Colorado to compete in his first ever climb of Mount Washington.
White and red Toyota Celica hillclimb car with Mobil 1 livery cornering on the Mount Washington Auto Road, seen from above and behind.
Local celebrity and Formula Drift champion, Ryan Tuerck of Epping, NH brings his purpose built Toyota Celica GT411 (US market front wheel drive Celica with a GR-Corolla powertrain swap) to the hill climb getting on three wheels at Signal Corps.

The weekend saw a record-smashing run by Scott Speed, a former rally champion from California racing for Vermont Sports Car’s Project Midnight. Piloting a purpose-built 2024 Subaru WRX, Speed took full advantage of his car’s 670 horsepower, 680 lb. ft. of torque, and scant 2,469-pound weight. It took him just 5:11.982 to climb to Mt. Washington’s peak, eclipsing former record-holder Travis Pastrana’s 2021 run by over 16 seconds.

Matte black Project Midnight Subaru WRX hillclimb car with a large rear wing cornering on the paved Mount Washington Auto Road.
Scott Speed in the VSC Project Midnight lifting its right rear tire off the ground on the uphill cambered corner at Signal Corps.

Speed benefited from the Auto Road having been fully paved since the last Climb to the Clouds was held. But there was a threat early Sunday that low visibility and precipitation might slow the competitors and defy any record-setting runs. The first timed runs (each driver gets two) were ended near mid-mountain, but by afternoon things had dried up enough for Speed and others to race to the peak.

Grey and yellow Mazda MX-5 Miata race car number 75 spraying water off wet pavement on the Mount Washington Auto Road.
On Saturday’s (8/8/2026) practice run of the lower half of the auto road, competitors dealt with downpour on their second run of the day.

Mt. Washington has always had rapidly changing and radically unpredictable weather, so anyone planning to attend the next Climb to the Clouds would be smart to wear hiking shoes and come equipped with sunscreen, bug spray, some type of rain gear, and an extra jacket. It can be snowing at the summit when it’s 80 degrees at the base, so be prepared for anything.

Layers of blue mountain ridges under an orange and gold sunrise sky, photographed from Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
A view of a beautiful early morning sunrise with light rays bathing the other mountains of New Hampshire from Mount Washington.

Despite the unpredictability of its weather, you owe it to yourself to visit the highest peak in New England if you’ve never been or haven’t been for a while… or want an iconic bumper sticker. And if you want to enjoy some great racing action, keep an eye on the Sports Car Club of NH website to be there for the next Climb to the Clouds.

Several race cars and open-wheel crosskart buggies driving in single file down a curving section of the Mount Washington Auto Road surrounded by green forest.
Racers descending the auto road after their timed runs with a parade cruise back down to the base of the mountain.

Specs and information on Project Midnight.

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Kevin Nguyen picked up a camera in 2012, but he was hooked on cars long before that. A lifelong Mainer, he chases automotive culture across New England and around the world, from fog-soaked hill climbs to the back roads and paddocks closer to home. His photography has run through J.D. Power and Hooniverse, and he stays plugged into the local enthusiast scene. He is a member of the New England Motor Press Association.

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