Pikes Peak Hill Climb

[edkellock at juno.com]

Hi Dave.

I live in Colorado Springs now but prior to that I drove cross country 5
times to see the race.

Last year, they did not allow overnight camping due to the fire danger
but every other year they have.  I always went up to Devil's Playground
the night before except for the two Audifests and then last year when no
one was allowed.  The race is the only time they allow overnight
parking/camping during the whole year.  Going up in the morning isn't too
bad, but I'm not much of an early bird so...  I think they close the road
to uphill traffic at 8am or so.  Going up earlier nets you less uphill
traffic which can be very slooooooowww.  When I was going for the
overnight, I would plan to arrive the day before and just go on up.  Then
almost any hotel feels like a real treat the next day.

There are basically no services on the hill.  There will be port-a-johns
and there is usually a food vendor (roach coach) up there.  Most of the
time there's a t-shirt/whatever vendor, but not always.  Bring water,
food, and plenty of warm clothes.  You might arrive at Devil's Playground
the afternoon before the race and be perfectly comfortable in shorts but
find that in 30 minutes there is snow falling.  Be prepared.

You won't be able to go to the summit on the day of the race, so plan to
do so the day before or to go back up the day after the race.  At the top
is Summit House with souveniers galore and food including donuts made
fresh on premises.  There's a smaller shop near the bottom at Crystal
reservoir and then another roughly halfway.  They don't have much in the
way of supplies for overnighting though.

Devil's Playground is above tree line and the "parking area" is a good
size dirt valley.  There are usually hundreds of vehicles there.  Some
people go up a week prior to camp out.  There will be all manner of
people and vehicles there.  Don't expect a peaceful night's sleep
necessarily, either due to "wildlife" or weather.

There's tons of lodging in the C-Springs area, though some may not be
close.  If you do book early you can find some neat stuff in Old Colorado
City.  However, this is no LA or Denver so no matter what you choose/find
you won't be that far.  There are plenty of choices for lodging depending
on your tastes.

I haven't missed the race since I lived here and this year will be no
different.  Check out these links for Audifest '97 and '98...
http://members.aol.com/Audifest98/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/~jgriff/AudiFest/AudiFest98.html
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4475/AudiFest.html

Ed


On Tue, 08 Apr 2003 17:39:17 -0400 David Conner
<conner at cfm.Ohio-State.edu> writes:
> Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is on June 28
> http://www.ppihc.com/index10.htm
>
> I'm planning to attend this year ... first time, and I'm trying to
> work out
> some of the details.
>
> I hear the preferred place to watch the action is Devil's Playground
> near
> the 12,000 level so that's where I want to be.  No doubt lodging
> will be
> scarce during the event so I want to plan for that, make
> reservations soon,
> etc.  Given that they close the road to traffic early on Race day
> I'm
> thinking I'd want to spend the night on the mountain.  Is camping
> or
> overnight parking allowed on Pikes Peak?  At  Devil's Playground?
> What do
> others do?  I'd appreciate any recommendations.
> thanks,
> Dave C.
>
>

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