Cloudbusters

There’s nothing new about monsters visiting America’s Mountain. Since the 1800s, the good folk of Colorado Springs have talked about seeing Bigfoot there’s even a sign warning motorists of a particular spot where the elusive creature likes to cross the road.

But for one day each year, the big hairy beast is nowhere to be seen on the Pikes Peak Highway. One Sunday every summer, Bigfoot spotting is cast aside in favour of the mountain’s real monsters as the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb gets under way. The 12.42-mile road runs from the startline at 9390 feet and rises through 156 corners to the summit at 14,115 feet. That’s three Ben Nevises piled high, with two thirds of a Snowdon on top. It’s a long way up, but it’s a journey that has captivated motorsport followers for more than 100 years.

Mining mogul Spencer Penrose was looking for a way to publicise the toll road he’d engineered, installed and opened from the bottom to the top of the mountain in 1916. The best way? A race. And with that, the world’s most famous hillclimb was born. An astonishing $2000 purse was on offer for the winner, along with the biggest