Drive through the city park at 100 mph? Sure!

The Knox Mountain Hillclimb is coming to Kelowna on the long weekend May 21-22 in Kelowna. Check out http://www.knoxmtnhillclimb.ca/
for more information.

Know anybody that wants to work trackside ? Contact knoxhillclimb@hotmail.com or the volunteer hotline at 250-two one two-1889. Free admission, Free T-shirt, Free lunch, Bonus swag etc for volunteers!

Richard

  This was the first time I have managed to attend this event unfortunately only as a spectator. After witnessing he level of safety and preparedness of this "premier hillclimb " I think I will have to pass on competing untill improvements are made.

 I saw many cars come down the hill on the flat deck with significant damage, I beleive there were 9 major incidents with at least 2 or 3 rollovers.

 hopefully the organizers will take to heart any recommendations by the stewards to avoid a major incident which could end this long standing event.

RStec

WOW....that's strange. I have attended the hill many times in the past, and have always had a great experience. Well.....except for the last time. :'( and maybe Keith could exxplain it better than me, since he was driving my car ;D.
You're just po'd because you weren't driving. Next year a bunch of VEES.

Just my thoughts toward this conversation:

If there are issues surrounding this event perhaps a better and more proper place to discuss it is somewhere other than a public forum. EVERYONE supports safety I'm sure and ideas for PROGRESS are always important.

Anyway, just my 2 cents...

I disagree, an open discussion on the events good and bad issues is how we can make it better for every one. Knox is always a work in progress by a very small and dedicated group who would welcome any and all ideas to go forward. By doing this over the years is how it has become the longest continuous motor sport event in Canada.
Just my 2 cents
Brian
Canoe B.C.

I don't think the hill climb was as well run from a safety perspective as it has been in past years. Also there was a significant increase in car carnage.

That said, the hill has never been that forgiving if you make an error (over cook it into a corner or get too wide setting up for a corner). If you loose it where there is a tire wall it's not so bad, unfortunately there are also steep banks and rock faces that do not forgive a hard impact.

However, I am not aware of any driver that was injured. In fact I think I sustained the worst injuries on the hill that weekend (two Skinned knees and a skinned hand) when I lost my footing running towards a car that had gone off.

My 3 cents worth.
I happened to be one of only 3 people who have posted on this topic, who have actually competed at the Knox Mountain Hill climb ( KMHC). That does not give me any special right or privilege to comment, but just an inside perspective, at speed if you will, of the course etc.
I have only competed once in the KMHC, the other 2 on here, have competed many times.
First it is an awesome event, and I hope it can continue. If you ever get a chance to compete on the Mountain, I highly recommend it.  Put it on your racing BUCKET list.

All events, especially high RISK ones like auto racing,  need to be continuously reviewed for safety’s sake.
That is why we now have safety devices such as roll cages, restraint harness’s, helmets, and HANS devices.  And the all important turn workers as well.
I examined all the cars that crashed at this years KMHC, and listened to witnesses and drivers involved.  The fact that no one was seriously injured is a testament to how far the safety has come in our sport, everywhere.
Years ago, half of those same drivers would have suffered from serious injuries or worse.
.
Now as most of you know, if you push your car beyond its limits, and/or your driving limits, there is a pretty good chance you are going to crash at some point. That can happen at any  race circuit, at anytime.

Yes KMHC takes place on a public road and inherently there is some extra added element of risk associated with that fact, but most of the crashes were due to simple driver error.  The drivers involved, were for the most part not rookies, but experienced racers, most of which have competed at the KMHC, many times before,  and even in the same cars as they had used in the past
.
To my understanding, none of the crashes occurred due to the road conditions, or  course layout or anything like that.
It was simply a race w/e where the odds were not in some drivers favour.  Next year there may only be one or two such incidents.

The hardwork of all the people who volunteer to make such a great event happen each year, need to be acknowledged.  I have got to know some of the key members, and even raced with them at other tracks. This event means a lot to them, and I am sure they will do whatever it takes to continue the tradition.

From the perspective of time, if any of us had seen WESTWOOD in its early days we wouldn't have raced there with our modern experience. If you went off the track you were going to hit something awfully hard (usually a rock). Some did to their detriment.

Knox is probably one of the last places you can still compete in that environment.

Well said Tim, you covered it all I think.
As a driver that has competed twice at Knox; once I finished on my roof (actually Bob's roof ::)), the other time I won a trophy, it is a GREAT event and I plan to go back there many times.

And no......you're not using my car again! ;)  

Keith, I noticed you didn't mention that in your efforts to win that trophy last time you found a tire wall  - and were able to drive away after we unhooked you from it. That annoying bush is still to the right of that tire wall, I had hoped you would have taken it out this year, maybe you can aim for it next year  ;)

What I have noticed is that where there is room to put a tire wall the cars that hit those tires generally drive away (although with superficial damage).

Like all events the set-up requires many volunteer hours - and like all events only a few volunteer to get the work done. Next year if you plan to be there I know your help would be appreciated on the Thursday and Friday before the event. Especially if you think improvements in safety could be made your help solving the problems would be an asset. I had hoped to help with set-up this year, unfortunately I forgot to book the time off work :-[

Track Ops Mike