We’re back! After what felt like an eternity, the Knox Mountain Hill Climb made it’s great return back to the beautiful city of Kelowna, BC after a two year hiatus. Aside from this two year hiatus, the Knox Mountain Hill Climb has been running steady for just over the last 60 years, the history with this event runs deep in Kelowna.
Bob Guido - 1969 Ford Mustang
As always, every long weekend during the month of May is when the Knox Mountain Hill Climb takes place. Drivers and crew come from all over Western Canada, even with drivers from all over the Pacific North West. This is the only race of it’s kind in Canada, and one of a handful hill climb races still operating in North America to date.
Bonnie Wall - 1991 Honda CRX
The course itself is 2.2 miles long, with an elevation gain of about 800 feet from the start line at the base of hill. The course brings it’s own unique list of challenges throughout the 9 corners from start to finish, highspeed straights, tight corners, drop offs, humps/bumps from being a 4 seasons environment, and various road conditions depending on the weather over the weekend (rain/wet surfaces, sunny/dry, or a mix). But none the less, it’s always a great view overlooking Kelowna and the Okanagan lake.
Mark Uhlmann - Stohr WF 1
Given the nature of this course because of it’s location, spectators have access to almost every inch of the course in terms of view points. Knox Mountain is known for it’s incredible hiking trails and mountain bike trails, so during the race weekend you can hike various routes on the mountain that’ll take you to every corner of the course, and along the way be able to see each and every section of the course. For the most part this trail access is pretty tame, even for those who aren’t into hiking all day. If you are wanting to push yourself though, there are other great viewing points to hike to for those unique spots.
Michael Zbarsky - 1967 Triumph
Along with the ease of access to the course, incredible views from the mountain of Kelowna and the surrounding area. There is such a large variety of cars in this event, you’ll see a handful of purpose built time attack cars that were built for one job and one job only. But then you’ll also see a great mix of weekend track warriors, all the way to others who race seriously. Hillclimb monsters, to vintage classics, and everything in between, there is really something for everyone’s interests.
Garrett Mealing - 1995 Eagle Talon
Given the events two year hiatus for obvious reasons, drivers were itching to get back into this historical event for the Okanagan valley, but not only the drivers, the spectators too. The energy levels that weekend were very high, the excitement was real, and it felt so good to be back. To a lot of these drivers and volunteers, this event is so much more than just a race, in a way it’s like a massive family reunion for most. Many here only cross paths with each other a few times a year at most, some maybe just once a year when this event happens.
Greg Cavouras - 2004 Corvette
You could imagine what is was like for everyone in this scene, not being able to do what they love the most in life for the past two years, there’s so much that goes on in racing culture as a whole, that when you take a part of it away for a period of time, life just isn’t the same without all the pieces of the puzzle put together. Some prepare all year just for that once special event, others maybe they get up to a number of different races each season, come full circle though and in the end everyone is living for that one moment in time. So to have the Knox Mountain Hill Climb back in full swing, it really was a huge deal for those who are apart of it, and the ones who have been apart of it during it’s lifetime.
Steve Gunner - 1983 Porsche 944
Now don’t go thinking that this event is just for the divers, it’s so much more than that. It’s for the community, and I’m not just talking about the racing community, the community of Kelowna as a whole. It brings people in from all over the map during the May long weekend, people come together, they catch-up with one another, create life long memories. Some have been coming to this event for back to back years on end, and others this may be their first time experiencing it. At the end of the day, it’s creating community engagement, it’s bringing more attention to Kelowna and the race culture that exists in this neck of the woods.
Bob Boyer - 1969 Datsun 510
It really is a treat to see this race in person, because at any other time of the year, this road up the mountain isn’t open to vehicle traffic. It’s always unique to hear and see racecars in unusual areas if you want to put it that way, the sights and sounds of these purpose built cars racing past you one by one is an exciting time to witness. Often you could hear a pin drop in this environment any other time of the year, but for once a year it’s really something else to hear the roar of an engine off in the distance through the woods, then see a racecar some barreling around a corner and blast by you. The mix of nature and machine in this instance is an odd paring, but it works so well. Beauty and the beast, purpose built chaos mixed with the peaceful serenity of nature.
Roger Sieber - Hayaboostaca
To sum things up about the Knox Mountain Hill Climb, it’s an all around incredible time, it brings family and friends together for a memorable weekend in nature with racecars. It holds a historical value to the city of Kelowna, and really showcases something truly special that Kelowna has to offer for the motorsport culture out here. I personally love this event and what it brings to this location, it really is a great feeling to be apart of it, to show support for it in hopes that it continues to grown even bigger in the coming years, bringing out more drivers, bigger crowds, and really putting Kelowna on the map with such a special event such as this.
From left to right. (Garrett Mealing 2nd) (Mark Uhlmann 1st) (Roger Sieber 3rd)
