Giants Despair Hillclimb

The Giants Despair Hillclimb is the oldest hillclimb in the United States, established in 1906 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Race drivers across the nation gather annually on East Northampton Street, the real name of the road that winds its way through a mile section of Pennsylvanias steep mountains.

In its first years, the race was used as a proving grounds by the biggest name in the automotive industry. Once recordholder Louis Chevrolet raced the hill as a way of demonstrating how powerful and reliable his product was. Carrol Shelby, Roger Penske, and Oscar Koveleski are just a few of the famous drivers that set out to tackle the mile.

Today, the Hillclimb is still ran on the second weekend of July. The hill has been paved many times and the records have been shattered. Today, we still see the look of determination in the competitors eyes that was there the first running of the event as they try to break the hill's record and crown themselves King of the Hill.