History of the Mt. Washington Auto Road

History of the Climb to the Clouds Event

The first Climb to the Clouds was held over July 11-12, 1904 with an auto race up a mountain. The mountain was New Hampshire's Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast and the grandest of the Presidential Mountains at 6,288 feet above sea level. The "racecourse" was the 8-mile Mt. Washington Carriage Road (now known as the Mt. Washington Auto Road). Opened in 1861, the Carriage Road was the world's first mountain toll road and other than hiking by foot, the only way to the summit was in horse drawn "mountain wagons." The Climb to the Clouds was held seven years before the first 500-mile race at Indianapolis and 12 years prior to the inaugural Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado.

It wasn't until 1899 when inventor F.O. Stanley took his newly invented 'Locomobile" up the Carriage Road to the summit, no doubt receiving more laughter than praise, as motorized vehicles were not being taken too seriously by the public. After all, the narrow and winding Carriage Road had an average 12% grade with an 18% grade at its steepest and mountain wagons pulled by their six horses had been doing just fine.

Auto manufacturers believed that the Carriage Road would be the perfect proving ground to demonstrate the ability of these "horseless carriages." Promoted as "the greatest contest of motor vehicles ever held", the inaugural Climb to the Clouds included among others, Rambler, Mercedes, Oldsmobile, Stanley Steamer, Pierce and a high priced Daimler. The vehicles ranged from two to sixty horsepower and were placed in classes according to price, up to $18,000.