New North Carolina hillclimb

svann · Post by **svann** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:34 pm

I guess it is OK to make this public: We will not be going back to Sparta for the Blueridge Hillclimb this year, but have a new venue. It is Wolf Ridge Resort about 30 miles NW of Ashville. The dates are May 19-20, so you could come down and start your season a little early. I haven't seen the course in person, but George Bowland likes it and I'll take his word. There are some photos and information on the preliminary hillclimb site: More info to come. http://www.wolfridgehillclimb.com/test

Cumberland Racer · Post by **Cumberland Racer** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:13 am

Very cool, Stan! Is the Lodge at the summit a restaurant?

Champ · Post by **Champ** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:04 am

Will this be SCCA sanctioned?

george bowland · Post by **george bowland** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:06 am

The Lodge at the summit (where we will paddock) is a restaurant, although the food issues have not yet been worked out. (The Lodge is normally closed in May). The event is an SCCA event, but it will not have Southeast points attached as the Nasheville TT is the same weekend. The cabins at the top will be available and with three and four bedrooms for about $280 a night will work well for folks that can stand one another. The setup is basically a 3.5 mile loop. Its 1.5 miles from the paddock to the start line via a back road. The course is about 1.6 miles with a .4 mile run from the finish to the paddock. The intention at this time is to take cars down in groups (maybe 15 to 20 cars), run them up the hill and return to the paddock. Open the hill for traffic and cool down time and then either run another group or run the same group through three runs or so. However the event is run, it is an interesting hill that favors handling rather than HP. I would guess 70 to 75 mph for the fastest cars. Smooth new pavement and a lot of guard rails. Elevation is roughly 3000 ft to 3800ft, but our GPS was not very accurate on this measurement. It is a very picturesque mountain top with long range views. There are motels in Erwin, TN for those who can't use the cabins, and Erwin is about 9 miles from the site. I don't believe the hill is anything like any I have run in PHA, so it should present a challenge to all. It will take a lot of time to learn, as there must be 25 turns ranging from short sweepers to three switch backs. There are few places where you can see the road ahead for more than 200 feet. I have visited the hill three times and it changes for me completely each time. Of course, that my be my age rather than the hill itself.

svann · Post by **svann** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 1:46 pm

Although I live in North Carolina. This will be a 400 mile tow for me, so don't think it is too far. All the hillclimbs I attend are 350 miles or more. I look at them as mini vacations. I also find you have to travel some distance before the people and locations get interesting. I mean that in a good way.

Champ · Post by **Champ** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:03 am

I heard that the dates had been changed for this event to avoid a conflict with the Nashville TT. Does anyone know if there's any truth to that?

svann · Post by **svann** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:37 pm

I'll check on this and see if I can find out. I'd like to know how this happened and why it cannot be changed, myself.

JekylandHyde · Post by **JekylandHyde** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:51 pm

Wolf Ridge is update on the site: http://www.smartracer.net

Check out the course map ... every 3.5 secodns it animates the course to make it easier to see through the trees

SmokyMtnRacer · Post by **SmokyMtnRacer** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:07 pm

Hey guys!

Thanks for adding our event! Let me know if we can answer any questions!

smokymtnracer@yahoo.com

JekylandHyde · Post by **JekylandHyde** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 4:06 pm

SmokyMtnRacer wrote: Thanks for adding our event! Let me know if we can answer any questions!

Actually, I would love to flush out the links on that page:

*where to eat
*where to stay
*where to park (for racers & spectators)

Any photos would be nice and an in-car video of the course would be exceptional!

thanks.

SmokyMtnRacer · Post by **SmokyMtnRacer** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:07 pm

JekylandHyde wrote:
SmokyMtnRacer wrote: Thanks for adding our event! Let me know if we can answer any questions!
Actually, I would love to flush out the links on that page:

*where to eat
*where to stay
*where to park (for racers & spectators)

Any photos would be nice and an in-car video of the course would be exceptional!

thanks.

Where to eat - 10 minutes away there is a Hardees, 2 minutes away there is a gas station with a full restaurant, at the to of the mountain there is "The Lodge" which has full lunch and dinner.

Where to stay - 10 minutes away - Mars Hill NC - Comfort Inn, or on site in the rental cabins. All that info should be up very shortly.

Where to park - Ample parking at the top of the hill, some parking at the bottom of the hill but that has not been totally worked out yet.

Pics will be in the photo galleries section of the website, but here are a few teaser shots:

Start Line:

In car will be posted on the website in a couple of weeks.

JekylandHyde · Post by **JekylandHyde** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 3:09 pm

thanks - pages are updated.

SmokyMtnRacer · Post by **SmokyMtnRacer** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:01 pm

Weather allowing, we should have hillclimb in-car footage this weekend! YAY!

SmokyMtnRacer · Post by **SmokyMtnRacer** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:18 am

Wel, it was snowing all weekend so we were not able to get the in-car done this weekend

.

We are trying to get it done as soon as possible, hopefully this week, as it appears that it is going to be warmer and clear for several days.

SmokyMtnRacer · Post by **SmokyMtnRacer** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:01 pm

We took in-car today!!!

Will have it online ASAP!

SmokyMtnRacer · Post by **SmokyMtnRacer** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:35 am

In-car footage from closed road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5M0y9T4DTE