Being involved in both motorsport and climbing, this is somethign I'd wanted to check out for quite a while.
What I'm thinking of is a wicked-early hike/climb up to a small sub-peak on the tundra to the north of the summit-proper, and watching what we can of the rally before retreating.

Apart from the obvious rules regarding the course (we have no plans of getting near the road), are things more tightly regulated on the rest of the mountian that day? I don't suppose we'd need an event ticket, would we?

Yeti,

I know several folks who regularly hike to "Little Pikes" or "Devils Playground" to watch the race, so don't expect solitude. Friends have never mentioned anything about needing a ticket - I guess like earning your turns, if you hike for your seat, it's yours.

It's forbidden to walk on/near the road at any time, race or no race. I don't know what special restrictions apply during the race. Hopefully someone else can shed further light on this.

Have fun!
Sarah

PS: What, you're in Cincy? You and Dougie should just head to Cleves for Gravelrama and call it "good enough."

sarah.simon wrote:PS: What, you're in Cincy? You and Dougie should just head to Cleves for Gravelrama and call it "good enough."

Αυτά είναι ελληνικά σε με!
(That's all greek to me!)

It would actually be great to have some like-minded company. Pikes Peak is generally a poor place to find solitude, no matter what day it is.

Yeti wrote:

sarah.simon wrote:PS: What, you're in Cincy? You and Dougie should just head to Cleves for Gravelrama and call it "good enough."

Αυτά είναι ελληνικά σε με!
(That's all greek to me!)

It would actually be great to have some like-minded company. Pikes Peak is generally a poor place to find solitude, no matter what day it is.

You can find solitude on Pikes any day of the year. If you get off of Barr Trail and the Crags trail, you will almost never see anyone except at the summit. Add Bottomless Pit and the area around Little Italy, and you are almost sure to never see anyone.

I've never been asked for a ticket when hiking during the hill climb. If you are within sight of the road during the hill climb, you will probably have company and better arrive early if you are going to be near the road.

Although I don't think I would want to watch the hill climb again, I will buy the first round at Bierwerks in Woodland Park if we can arrange the meeting time.

No special rules during Hill Climb. The above comments about staying off the road still apply. Lots of spectators and racers have been hurt or killed during this event. But the surrounding parts of the mountain are business as usual! Nobody checks for any kind of tickets or passes once you are on the mountain. That is all done when people enter the event via the toll road. If you get up there some other way, you're golden.

Thanks again for all of the additional input.
As far as spectating, there is a small sub-summit cone about half a mile NE of the summit. From the top it looks like we should be able to see a couple of miles of the course all at once.

If I make this trip happen, I'd definitely try to plan some social activity afterward. I miss Fat Tire.