History of the Mount Equinox Hill Climb July 6

The Manchester Historical Society and the Manchester Community Library are are jointly presenting a free, illustrated talk on the historic Mount Equinox Hill Climb with Jim Donick on Wednesday, July 6, at 7 pm in the Hunter Community Room at the library.Jim Donick has been competing on the mountain for over thirty years. The editor of Vintage Sports Car magazine, published by the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, he is currently at work on a history of the Mt. Equinox Hill Climb. Using photos taken over the last sixty-five years, he will share stories of the hill climb and its development, of the people who competed on the mountain, the challenges it offers to a driver, and the joy of being a part of an historic endeavor that dates to the early days of sports car racing in the United States.The Mount Equinox Hill Climb was first run in May 1950, shortly after Dr. Davidson completed the road to the top. This makes it the longest continuously run paved automotive hill climb in the United States.Since that time the Skyline Drive has hosted countless great and near-great drivers every year, all of them with the dream of making the climb as quickly as they possibly can.  The mountain has echoed to the sound of every sort of racing car imaginable with examples that have ranged from the early 1900s to the fastest Can-Am cars of the sixties, one of which dropped the record for ascending Equinox's five-plus miles of tarmac to just over four minutes. Until 1973 the event was run for what were then contemporary racing cars.  Since then the event has been limited to vintage racer, cars mostly built prior to 1960.The 2016 running of the event will take place on the weekend following the talk, July 9 -10.  The program is free and open to the public. The Manchester Community Library is located at 138 Cemetery Ave. in Manchester Center, Vermont. For more information, please email info@manchesterhistoricalsocietyvt.org or call 802-549-5482.