Rotary Teton Hillclimb, Sept. 12 - 14, 2008 9/21/08 -- Finally, a Teton Hillclimb weekend with the best weather on the mountain that we have seen in years. Glorious sunny days with no wind ! Many thanks to all the volunteer workers from the Rotary Club of Teton Valley, who showed up to work for the weekend so that the racers could race. Thanks to the local EMTs, fire truck crew, and wrecker crew for their support on the mountain all weekend. Thanks to the couple Northwest Hillclimb Assoc. members who pitched in and teched race cars on Friday evening. Thanks to the couple EISCC members who were up at daylight to assist me in setting up course markers and equipment each day and for running the START line under not so pleasant situations from spectator traffic. Thanks to the many sponsors for supporting the annual hillclimb race and thanks to the Jackson Hole News for covering this event in their newspaper. The proceeds from this race are used by the Rotary Club to provide local college scholarships and to support the local food bank. A special thanks to John Hansford for his several years in organizing the Rotary Teton HIllclimb. John has decided to reliquish his major role in organizing the hillclimb race each year and was busy training a replacement crew for next year. His services and help has been greatly appreciated for many years at the hillclimb. The race would not have been resurrected after the new pavement was laid except for his tireless efforts and able leadership in getting the Rotary Club involved in re-establishing the race. Thanks to the racers, who showed up with everything from exotic Porsches, a Ferrari, Formula Ford, specialized hillclimb cars, hot Evos and STis, to daily drivers. As with most hillclimb races, we had a few cars break, a few spins, a few cars left with minor damage, but all drivers went home safe. The race results have been posted on the "About" web page of this web site. Unfortunately, the timing system internal clock was malfunctioning and recording run times faster than real time. However, the results were consistent from car to car, class to class, and day to day. As a result, the run times are not being used to establish any new class records for 2008. My apologies for a misbehaving timing system. The Grand Targhee staff has experienced a major turnover this fall, losing the key people who have interfaced with the hillclimb race for the last several years. We wish them well in their new endevours, especially Jeff Naylor, who whole heartedly provided all the help he could from the Grand Targhee Resort services to the annual hillclimb. From supplying radios for communications, web page space, hotel accomodations, dinner reservations, getting the road swept, and even drving the worker and spectator shuttle vehicle; his services with a smile will be greatly missed on the mountain. Stay tuned to this web site for news of the 2009 Rotary Teton Hillclimb ! 8/23/08 -- Many thanks in advance to all the people who help out with race setup, tech, start line, grid, traffic control, etc. The race this year was moved to a week later than usual, which also happens to be the week of SCCA Solo Nationals in Topeka and Corvette Club gathering in Seattle, as well as Midnight Muscle Car Club's 100 ft drag race. Soooooooooooooooo....... I will be without the wonderful help usually provided by several friends to put on this race. I could really use some extra help with registration, tech, course setup, START line, grid control, traffic control, etc. So don't be bashful, volunteer to help out a little, meet some new people and make some new friends. John Atchison at Half Fast Racing, half.fast.racing@onewest.net, 208-552-6456 A special THANK YOU to the Rotary Club volunteers who man the corner worker stations all weekend. Don't forget to say THANK YOU to the friendly staff at Grand Targhee Resort who host us for the weekend, sweep the road, and provide the spectator shuttle service. They have been putting up with us racing there for more than 10 years now! 8/19/08 -- The Teewinot Lodge at Grand Targhee Resort has rooms available for the hillclimb weekend at the rate of $89 per night (tax included). Just call Grand Targhee Resort at 800-827-4433 and tell reservations you are with the hillcimb race group. SEE YA THERE ! 8/12/08 -- The web pages have been updated with all the latest information for the 2008 Rotary Teton HIllclimb. So make your reservations and join us at the Grand Targhee Resort for a great early fall race on the west side of the Teton Mountains ! Some details are still preliminary, check this page for the latest news and updates. We are still finalizing the details for Friday evening registration and tech inspection. Hopefully I will have enough help available to hold Friday evening registration and tech at both the Warbirds Cafe (located at the Driggs airport) and at Grand Targhee Resort, from 5 to 8 pm. The Warbirds Cafe will be open for beverages of your choice and their exceptional food. Tech inspection for race vehicles will be conducted in the parking lot of the Warbirds Cafe or at Grand Targhee parking lot. This arrangement would accomodate both the racers who like to dine at Warbirds Cafe and the motorhome/trailer/camper racers who want to unload their race cars at Grand Targhee and get set up for the weekend before dark. The Trap Bar at Grand Targhee was open and available last year, where we experienced some cold drinks and great food, while telling race lies....oops, stories! The novice drivers meeting will be held in the Teewinot Lodge conference room at Grand Targhee at 8:30 pm on Friday. This novice drivers meeting is MANDATORY for novice hillclimb drivers and recommended for all drivers who have not driven the Teton Hillclimb previously. This is a high speed, potentially dangerous hill climb race with almost no runoff area along most of the course. We don't want any driver's to get hurt or cars to get destroyed. So safety is above all else ! Due to the major crash at last year's race, there will be more scrutiny of driver qualifications and car safety tech inspection at this years race. Epecially with regard to roll bars and fire extinguishers. ALL convertibles must have a properly installed and adequately braced roll bar. The roll bar MUST extend above the drivers helmet. Check the NHA web site for more detailled rules. Fire extinquishers MUST have a recent inspection tag and be mounted in a metal bracket within the driver's reach. Also check the NHA web page for other hillclimb races on the Northwest Hillclimb Association's annual race schedule. Join us at some of the other exciting and unique NHA hillclimb races as we meet new and old friends, check out the latest cars and modifications, and challenge the course ! 5/10/06 -- Attention: SNELL95 and newer helmets required. The NHA safety rules follow the SCCA SOLO II helmet requirements. SNELL 1990 helmets are out of date and no longer acceptable for use at SCCA SOLO II events or NHA hillclimb races. Acceptable helmets must be SNELL M95, M2000, M2005, SA95, SA2000, or SA2005. Also acceptable are SFI 31.1A, 31.2A, 41.1A, or 41.2A rated helmets. Helmets will be checked at tech inspection. 2/10/05 -- Ronald Ahrens raced a new Saab 9-2X in the 2004 Rotary Teton Hillclimb and wrote an article about his experience and the car, which was published in the January 2005 issue of AUTOMOBILE magazine. His photographer Gunnar Conrad supplied actions shots and enjoyed the local sights. Ronald also provided us with an entertaining and inspiring featured talk at the Saturday night buffet dinner. We enjoyed having them and hope they will return to the hillclimb again. You can read a copy of the article by ....CLICKING HERE....!