Weatherly

The PHA Championship series includes two events in Weatherly, one at the beginning of the season and one at the end.  Weatherly Hillclimb is an SCCA sanctioned event, and is hosted by the Weatherly Hillclimb Association.

Weatherly PA is a quiet town located about 10 miles southeast of Hazleton that has been hosting hillclimb events since 1960. The whole community really gets behind these events, and many local civic groups such as volunteer fire companies, scouts, local high school clubs, etc., have fundraisers selling breakfast and/or lunch, drinks, ice cream and other great food items in the paddock area.

Spectators can safely watch from many of the turns on the course, or wander through the pit area to look at the cars and talk to the drivers. Camping is allowed (and encouraged) at this event, but there are also hotels nearby in Hazleton and Nesquehoning.  If you just want to come check out the event and aren’t ready to drive, we can always use corner workers!

As far as the course goes, if an engineer wanted to design a public road to be a hillclimb course, this is it. The course is one mile long, and consists of uphill straights and both sweeping and hairpin turns.

The first straight is from the start line to turn 1, and turn 1 will test  your courage — how deep can you go before braking?  And how fast can you power through the turn? 

Video courtesy of Justin Peachey

Turns 2  and 3 will test your autocross skills, as they are very tight turns.  To increase the challenge, turn 3  is known as “The Wall”, and it has to be seen and driven to be believed.  The local school bus has been known to bottom out at this turn in the winter.   The inside path will halt all forward momentum for those in a lower hp car, although it is still quite fun to slingshot around the outside of the turn for those of us that are hp challenged.

Video courtesy of Blake Jones

The Wall is followed by another hairpin turn (turn 4), and then a short run to turn 5, which is locally known as “The Jump”.  Many cars briefly lose contact with the pavement on the exit of this turn.  From this point, the rest of the hill consists of a short straight leading to a long sweeping turn (turn 6) all the way to the finish line that tests your tires’ grip on the road as well as your nerve.


General Hill Information:

LocationWeatherly, PA
Pit Location70 Laurel St, Weatherly, Pa
N 40 56' 44.4" W 075 51' 56.2"
Length1 mile
Elevation ChangeApproximately 340'
Number of Turns6
Course Map
(click on image to enlarge)


Paddock Area:
From Friday night through the event’s conclusion on Sunday, Laurel Street is closed off to public traffic at Spring Street, just after the Fire House.  Laurel Street serves as the paddock area, with camping along both sides of the road. 

Hill Street, which is the hillclimb course, will be closed off to public traffic starting at North Street. The start line is just beyond the intersection of Laurel and Hill Streets.

Visitors can park outside the closed off areas, and then walk on the street serving as the paddock area to reach the hillclimb.