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Widowmaker


Ieat4strokes

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  • 1 year later...

Heres a little Widowmaker history of what I know. The original Widowmaker hillclimb started back in the 60's some time and the original hill was on the South end of Salt Lake City. If you have ever seen the old movie "On Any Sunday" there is some footage of it on the movie. Pretty cool. They quit running the original hill in the 80's sometime, I don't remmember when, but when I was a wee pup I went a few times to see it with my pops. There was slim to none security and safety. It was a sanctioned climb but with a very rowdy crowd. I remmember hiking up the hill right next to the sideline stringer and watching the bikes go by and getting hit with dirt and sagebrush. Seeing the catchers try to catch the bikes on the hill from 10 feet away on the sideline. Only a thin plastic ribbon keeping anyone off the course. Very cool, very dangerous. It got shut down, I heard because of the rowdy crowd having fights, I think there may have been a rape one of the last years, drunkeness etc. The cops and city got sick of it and it was almost in a neigborhood at this piont due to city growth. There are now big houses there. The original hill was 1500 feet. They would move it some yards every year to the side of last year to keep it on original untouched ground. There was a span of 10 to 15 years when there was no Widowmaker anymore.

 

To make a long story longer, fast forward to now. The new hill is in Croyden, Utah. A smalll town above Ogden. It is on private property owned by a family that owns a gravel/concrete plant. I believe the champion hill is 1000 feet now or maybe 1200, so a bit shorter but as original it is on fresh untouched ground every year. No Banshee or any Atv would ever climb either hill new or old. The sagebrush is 2 to 4 feet tall, It is VERY steep, and there is no grading or trail of any kind at the beginning of the event. If you have ever tried riding through sagebrush, it picks up your wheeler off the ground and you spin out or flip over backwards. Not to mention the various rocks ledges and holes you cant see.Eventually a groove gets cut into it at the beginning but the higher you go the less trail there is. Usually only a few of the unlimited bikes even top it at all. It is a well run family frendly event now with vendors etc.

 

There is a ATV hill that they run at the same event. It is pretty impressive also but nothing like big hill. It is on the left side of the main hill, not near as long. Last time I watched it it had a turn in it midway up also. It is ungroomed mostly, with no sagebrush and no steps in it like your hill videos you guys are are posting. The dirt is virgin and pretty hard. I watched it and decided that I valued my Banshee to much to risk climbing this hill. Some were climbing it fairly easy but with lots of wheel spin and it is a do or die deal. If they stopped or missed a shift, powered out, wheelied up etc they were done. There was no stopping on it, you would begin sliding backward and HOPEFULLY the hill help would grab your machine. If not, down they went. I watched on poor guy get right to the top, wheelie up on his L/E Banshee (the black one with the flames) slid off the back and down it went. Have you ever seen how high Atv's bounce when the are tumbling down a mountain? We call it a YARD SALE when it happens to our sleds in the mountains, same thing.

 

Speaking of which, they also run the big hill in the winter and put on a snowmobile Widowmaker event every year which is cool also.

 

There you go, hopefully someone reads this even though this thread is so old, it took a long time to type it.

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As a side note, the final hill climb for the Rocky Mountain Hill Climb circuit is in Billings Montana on a hill called the Bentonite Nightmare. I have not been to that event but the footage of it is insane if you have not seen it. There is a approx. 20 foot vertical cliff at the top and the bike catchers hang down on harnesses and ropes like rock climbing equipment to hook the bikes (sometimes) as they fall down it. Not sure if they do any ATV stuff at that one. I am going to go check it out one of these years.

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