I am thinking of going if the weather is good. They had some 350z's last year doing the climb, I wonder if they are back again for the challenge.

BTW, they had a tragedy today, one of the flag men was killed when struck by one of the racers,

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/1614997.html

 

I'll be going. I plan to watch from the starting area.

 

i'm going--i'm planning to watch from the highest area--the devil's playground.

any advice or comments on viewing areas would be appreciated, even if you're not going.

 

Last year was my first year, watched from Devil's Playground. Be prepared for anything, last year, we got 2-3 inches of snow/hail with lightning, etc. About halfway through the day, they stopped running the race to the top because of the weather and road conditions and just had the cars run halfway up. But they wouldn't let us leave, so we had to wait until the race was over and all the race cars had gone back down. The morning was fun though. From Devil's Playground you can't see the drift show at the starting area, only the tire smoke above the trees through binoculars.

There will be a line waiting for the gates to open at 4:30am, we got in line about 4am and got a good viewing spot. When you get up top, I'd recommend the first thing to do is set up your chairs in a flat spot where you can see the course, to hold your spot.

I'd recommend taking the following:
clothes for any and all weather
sleeping bag (comfortable to sit in a chair in a bag to stay warm)
toilet paper (the porta potties ran out before noon last year)
binoculars (you can see a lot of the course, the more powerful, the better)
food and water (nothing up there)

I may not stay until the end of the race, so I'm watching from the starting area this year. Plus I hope to be able to walk around the pits and see a lot of the car up close as well as the drifting show.

Matt

 

WHats the cost if you park and walk up or can you do that?

 

You could park and walk a little ways up the course, but the course is 12+ miles long and many spots there isn't much room to walk besides on the course. It wouldn't be too bad to park and walk along the the first half of the course though.

It's all the same cost, $35. That's to get through the toll gate near the bottom, then drive a few miles to the starting area.

Matt

 

matt,

do you really need to get there at 4:00 a.m. (i know you need to get there early to get up the mountain, of course) to get a good spot at Devil's Playground? I'm pretty flexible about where i watch the race from, but i was planning to park up high.

also, did you see any spectators with dogs on the course?

thanks,
david

 

David,

Last year, a ranger recommended we get there at 4am and it worked for us. I'm just not sure of the time cut off to get up to Devil's Playground or when parking fills up, you'll be surprised at the number of people up there very early.

I don't recall seeing any dogs up top last year, but I don't see why you couldn't bring a dog.

Matt

 

Matt,

Do you recommend purchasing tickets ahead of time, or is it easy to buy the tickets there? (or, more importantly, will having the tickets ahead of time streamline the entry process?)

thanks again,

david

 

David,

Having the tickets ahead of time will help a little, but you're still in the same huge line with everyone else, no special short lines for people with tickets, you just won't have to deal with paying, getting change, etc. Tickets are available at King Soopers if you decide to get them in advance.

Matt