HILL CLIMB WINNERS 1897-1949List Guidelines |
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The intention was to show every mountain- and hill climb during the 1897-1949 period, but it will probably never be a complete list of all events because some are hard to find or completely unknown. I therefore encourage the reader with knowledge about hill climbs that are not shown, to help by contributing such information with the goal to make this list as complete as possible. In an effort to minimize errors, individual source information is kept for each event and will be made available upon request. Although great care has been taken to assure accuracy, if a source provided faulty information, this mistake may have been carried over into this list. Similarly, if you know anything that is not correct or just doubtful, please let me know, so that all errors can be corrected. I will definitely take a good look and make changes as needed in a revised edition. You can reach me here Thank you! ATTENTION! We are trying to give as correct spelling as possible for all names and have therefore sometimes been forced to use codes not supported by the ANSI 8 bit standard. On some systems/browsers it is possible that certain letters of Czechoslovakian or Polish language will show up as boxes or questionmarks. In case of confusion, please refer to the following list:
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The events appearing in the list are divided into three categories of different significance as shown in the following example from 1930.
Event and course names: An attempt was made to translate the original names of events and courses into English, but this rule was not always strictly followed due to the lack of sufficient English sources available, describing these events.
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C = Cycle car, 1100 cc (1920's)The intent was to show primarily winners of the racing car category but sometimes the overall victorious cars came from the Light Car, Voiturette or Tricycle categories during the very early days. Some events did not allow entries for racing cars but were staged just for sports- or touring cars and are shown as well. Motorcycles, at times quicker than the fastest racing cars, are not shown in this list. At times they established FTD (fastest time of the day), because of different weather conditions encountered by the contestants during their individual runs uphill. To classify the early cars of the twenties was not always straightforward. A racing car was usually thought to be a car with open wheels. However, this was not always the case as shown in pictures, like Kracht's Bugatti Brescia racing car at the 1922 Gurnigel, where it had started with fenders removed but the headlights were left on the car. Another example is Nieth's Hispano-Suiza at the 1922 Klausen where it was driven in the "Open Class" without weight restrictions. Nieth drove without headlights but left the fenders on the car. Therefore a racing car was not necessarily an open-wheeled car or a totally stripped down sports car. You find the 1897-1949 period Grand Prix Formulae here. |
Note: The terms UK (United Kingdom) and NI (Northern Ireland) are not used in this tabulation. GB (Great Britain) is applied instead. Here a rough guide by David McKinney: The kingdoms of England and Wales were united circa 1292. The crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603, but the countries remained separate political entities for another 100 years (approx), at which time the parliaments were combined and the term Great Britain came into use. GB completed its political takeover of Ireland in the early 1800s, thus the United Kingdom of GB and Ireland. Ireland's struggle for independence was successful in (or around) 1922, except that the northern part remained within the UK (which then became the UK of GB and NI). The south became officially the Irish Free State, and in 1937 a republic. All of which is why I don't like using 'GB' in tables (such as this) - it really should be UK (otherwise problems arise when you need to include Northern Ireland). |
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National Hill Climb Championships for drivers were held for the first time in Germany during 1934 and won by Hans Stuck, while the first British Hill Climb Championship in 1947 was won by Raymond Mays. Switzerland was the first nation in Europe to announce a National Automobile Championship in 1926, which consisted of six hill climbs and one speed trial. The Italian Automobile Championship usually included one hill climb as did the Hungarian Automobile Championship. The Austrians held their first Automobile Championship in 1928, which consisted of three hill climbs. Hans Stuck was the 1928 Austrian Champion, a feat he repeated in 1929 and 1930. The first Portuguese Hill Climb Championship,"Campeonato Nacional de Rampa", was organized by the ACP in 1935, which saw Monte Real as racing car champion and Ribeiro Ferreira winning for the sports cars. It took place until 1938.
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The Toll of Hill Climbing
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The first Semmering meeting in 1899 was not a pure contest but more of a club outing. But vehicles were already split into two groups; motorcycles and cars. The following year was the first serious event and contestants were now divided into five categories. By 1901, vehicles were split into four classes by weight, using the same rules as applied by the ACF for automobile racing. However, there was an additional category for electro-mobiles, to accommodate the Lohner-Porsche Electric, which was driven by it's young designer Ferdinand Porsche. For the 1903 event, the electric class was dropped with regulations, which were close to those outlined by the ACF. After 1904 the AIACR regulations were adopted, to be described here. The most important mountain climbs were held in the Alps and Lower Alps region, a mountain chain extending across Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. Although the Carpathian Mountains stretched over Czechoslovakia and Poland, mountain climbs in these countries took place mostly at other locations near large towns. These early mountain roads provided a challenge for the ancient cars to demonstrate their ability in mastering steep roads and being able to go anywhere. Some of these first courses were not really steep, but for cars of the time with little power any snaking mountain road was a challenge. Let's look at some of those important early Alpine events of which the Bernina near St. Moritz in Switzerland was acknowledged as the hardest mountain climb. During their life span, some courses were changed in length and the data shown for the following events refers to the last year indicated.
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One century ago in England, they coined the term 'hill climb', when events were held every other week using convenient little hills in the country side. This English term "hill climb" has remained to this day and is applied generally to all uphill sprints including the giants of the Alps and the 'Race to the top of the World', the 20 km long Pikes Peak in the Rocky Mountains. In France and Belgium they are called "Courses de côte"; in Austria, Germany and Switzerland they are referred to as "Bergrennen"; "corsa in salita" in Italy; in Poland "wyścig górski"; in Portugal "Rampa"; in "Spain "Subida" or "Carrera en Cuesta" or in Catalonia they use "Pujada" or "Pujada en Costa" and "Cursa". The Swedish word is "backlopp" from backe = hill (related to English "bank") and lopp = run, race (related to English "leap"). "Backtävling" (hill competition) has also been used but is easly confused with ski jumping. The word lid / liden that can be seen as part in some of the Swedish hill climb names is an ancient Swedish word for uphill road. Mountain or hill climbing lacks that certain excitement seen in a direct side by side duel, where drivers have to make instantaneous decisions. In a mountain climb, drivers and cars both must constantly give 100 per cent since they are racing against the clock and therefore race against themselves. They need to be fully concentrated and dedicated to what they are doing. Split seconds lost by making a mistake, cannot be made up since there is just one run to the top. Hill climbing, one of the toughest and most demanding forms of motor sport, was part of the calendar of the world's greatest drivers during the twenties and thirties. |
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Primary Sources used by Marc Ceulemans for his research: Belgian newspapers: La Dernière Heure – La Gazette de Liège (Liège) – La Meuse (Liège) – Le Matin (Anvers) – Le Patriote Illustré – Le Soir – Le Sporting (Bruxelles) – Les Sports (Bruxelles) – L'Etoile Belge – Neptune – Vélo - Sport (Bruxelles). Swiss newspapers: La Gazette de Lausanne – Le Journal de Genève. French newspapers: Excelsior, journal illustré quotidien (Paris) – La Dépêche de Toulouse – La Tribune de l'Aube – L'Auto – Le Figaro – Le Journal (Paris) – Le Petit Journal, Paris – Le Petit Parisien – Le Temps, Paris – L'Eclaireur de Nice. Periodicals: Bulletin Officiel du Royal Automobile Club de Belgique (Bruxelles) – Englebert Magazine (Liège) – La Belgique Automobile (Bruxelles) – La Moto et l'auto, revue technique et sportive (Bruxelles) – La revue Sportive Illustrée (Bruxelles) – L'Actualité Automobile (Paris) – L'Automobile (Weekly, Belgium) – L'Automobile Belge, Organe officiel de la Fédération Belge des Automobiles Clubs Provinciaux (Bruxelles) – L'Illustration Sportive (Bruxelles) – Mon auto, revue mensuelle dédiée au tourisme automobile (Bruxelles) – Motor, Organe officiel du Royal Motor Union (Liège) – and so many others, … French and Belgian hill climb names mostly began with "Côte…", "Côte de…", "Côte du…", "Côte des…" and the original French language of these events was changed for this list. I hope that titles are still recognizable in their present wording and any errors are entirely mine. |
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While driving speeds were not restricted on the continent, from 1896 Great Britain had imposed a speed limit of 12 mph on all public roads, which was enforced everywhere. Therefore racing on public roads was officially impossible. Since public highways could not be legally closed, hill climbs took place out in the country. This was possible because long-distance traffic went by rail, and local traffic mostly consisted of farm traffic or cyclists except on market day. Organizers preferred a remote location, to avoid attracting too much attention and not to annoy the locals with their crowds and noise. Without the use of road circuits, the Brooklands track was not available before 1907, the various British automobile clubs held their club meetings on short stretches of rural and main roads, which were almost deserted. Contests were staged as speed hill climbs and normally took place over not more than a mile of road, sometimes only a quarter of a mile, or speed trials on a short, flat piece of road to avoid the appearance of sustained law-breaking. This situation was influenced by the 'Horse Lobby' -the upper class-, which had sufficient clout to stifle the whole motor industry in its early days. It also has to be remembered that Britain was the first to have an industrial revolution and it is therefore absurd that France and Germany took to the automobile and Britain did not. The horse lobby in pre-WW1 Britain was a relatively small minority, but they dictated the course of events. It was customary to give the average speed instead of the elapsed time over the measured distance. With the increase in speeds, often neither times nor speeds were published because the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland (ACGBI) was already looked upon with suspicion and the speed given was not necessarily the true speed attained. The 12 mph limit was commonly ignored, while normal touring cars reached speeds of 20 mph. As of January 1, 1904, the overall open road speed limit in Great Britain was raised to 20 mph and remained in force until 1926. In 1905 about 26 hill climbs took place, and this rose to at least 48 during the 1907 season. The number of meetings fell to 18 in 1914 when WW I began. After hostilities ended, hill climbing restarted in 1919 and by 1924, about 37 events were held. But the next year, only four climbs took place. An accident at Kop was the spark, which caused the ban by the RAC on April 2, 1925 on any further meetings on public roads because of difficulties in controlling spectators in places to which the public had the right of access. Doug Nye commented, "Francis Giveen's Bugatti accident at Kop hill-climb was immensely damaging for British motor sport. By triggering the ban on the only proper vestiges of motor sport on mainland public roads it really screwed us up effectively - in this respect - for evermore…" |
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Probably not to be found anywhere including in the Guinness Book of World Records. The longest hill climb --- 66.500 km or 41.323 mi – Cuneo-Colle della Maddalena (Italy). The shortest hill climb --- 190 meter or 209 yd – Kypperedsjölider (Borås, Sweden). The steepest hill climb --- 27% or 1 in 3.70 – Salzberg (Berchtesgaden, Germany). The flattest hill climb --- 1.3% or 1 in 76.92 – Grand-Saconnex (Geneva, Switzerland). The fastest hill climb --- 174.757 km/h or 108.594 mph average – Gaillon (SE of Rouen, France) on October 10, 1920. The slowest hill climb --- 5.942 km/h or 3.692 mph – Mount Washington (Gorham, NH, USA) on August 31, 1899. The highest elevation at finish --- 4,275 m or 14,110 ft – Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs, CO, USA). The lowest elevation at finish --- estimated at 137 m or ~450 ft – Bouley Bay (Jersey, UK). The largest height difference --- 1,890 m or 6,237 ft – Aosta-Gran San Bernardo (Italy). The smallest height difference --- 10 m or 33 ft – Grand-Saconnex (Geneva, Switzerland). The longest lasting hill climb --- 2 hours, 10 minutes, 00 seconds – Mount Washington on Aug 31, 1899. The briefest hill climb --- 14.9 seconds – Kypperedsjölider (Borås, Sweden) on October 7, 1934. |
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© 2025 Hans Etzrodt ,
Leif Snellman - Last updated: 13.01.2025 |