History of the Climb to the Clouds Race (continued)

Telephones were installed along the route at various checkpoints and manned by volunteers to provide communications just in case there were any emergencies or problems. Gasoline and lubricating oil was available at the base, and the summit stable horses were readied in case of a breakdown. Timed 30 minutes apart, the racers drove the tight, twisting course at speeds reaching more than 20 miles per hour! Spectators on the summit of Mt. Washington craned their necks to see each approaching car as it rounded the sharp corner of "Homestretch Flat" and speed across the finish line to the crack of a pistol and the swish of a rocket. The race times were announced by megaphone to personnel at the Summit House who then phoned the results to the base of the mountain.

Although the first Climb to the Clouds was expected to be a competition between the favored 800-pound, six-horsepower Stanley Steamer driven by the F.E Stanley (the twin brother of now famous F.O. Stanley), and the dashing 2,200-pound, 40-horsepower Daimler race car, a surprise contender outdistanced both rivals. On the second day of the two-day event, Harry Harkness of New York, driving a 60-horsepower Mercedes stripped to one seat on the chassis, beat the record set by Stanley by crossing the finish line in 24 minutes and 37 3/5 seconds. "Harkness went up without ever seeing the road before," reported Among the Clouds editor Frank H. Burt. "The wonder of all who saw him was that he not only broke a record, but he came out without a broken neck." Stanley was one of the first to congratulate Harkness on his record-setting feat. "I'm very sorry, said the humble Harkness to Stanley, but I couldn't help it." Replied Stanley, "No apology is necessary." Before he left the mountain, Harkness told Among the Clouds "I haven't the sporting blood to try it again."

The statewide New Hampshire newspaper, The Manchester Union Leader wrote this about the inaugural 1904 Climb to the Clouds: "The whole thing is an unmitigated nuisance. The lives and property of perfectly innocent people have been menaced for no reason other than to provide amusement for total strangers. Some drivers can be trusted, most cannot. If these people think of coming up another year, let 'em stay in jail for a couple of days and everyone will be the better for it."