Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

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Suzuki Grand Vitara at the 2006 Race to the Clouds

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as the The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of 19.99 km (12.42 miles) over 156 turns, climbing 1,439 metres from the start at Mile 7 on Pikes Peak Highway at 2,862 m on grades averaging 7% over both gravel and paved sections.

The race is on the FIA International Events Calendar and has featured competition from United States rally sanctioning body Rally America in 2004 and 2005. It has taken place since 1916 and is currently contested by a variety of classes of cars (Super Stock Car, Unlimited, Open Wheel (including Mini Sprint and Championship), Pikes Peak Open, and Exhibition), seven classes of motorcycle (Quads, 250cc, 450cc, 750cc, SuperMoto, Vintage (650-750cc twin-cylinder), and Sidecars), and modified trucks. There are often numerous new classes tried and discarded year-to-year. On average there are 150 competitors. The oldest current class is the Open Wheel division which has been run since 1916 and has been won by such names as Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, and Robby Unser (the current class record holder, achieving 10:05:85 min in 1994). The overall record is held by Rod Millen from New Zealand who clocked a time of 10:04:06 in 1994 driving a mid-engined Toyota Celica 4WD powered by a turbocharged engine with 850bhp output and breaking the previous record (set in 1988) by about 40 seconds. A noted challenger to the Unlimited record nowadays is Suzuki's Nobuhiro Tajima. The winning time in 1916 was 20:55.40, set by Rea Lentz.

In 1989, an award-winning short film about the 1988 event was released by French director Jean-Louis Mourey. The film, titled "Climb Dance", captured the efforts of Finnish former World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, as he won the event in a record-breaking time with his turbocharged Peugeot 405 T16.

The 2006 race was on July 1st, a change from the more common July 4th (Independence Day) running, as will be the 2007 race on July 21st.