WMWV – 93.5

Photo courtesy of mtwashingtonautoroad.com/climb-to-the-clouds

Lincoln, NH -Officials with the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire, organizers of the 2017 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb planned for July 6-9, 2017 at the Mt. Washington Auto Road in Gorham, NH, are proud to announce that Howie Wemyss, General Manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, has accepted an invitation to serve as the Grand Marshal of this year’s Climb to the Clouds.

Wemyss has served as General Manager of the oldest man-made attraction in the United States since 1987 and was instrumental in bringing the Mt. Washington Hillclimb back in 1990 after a 29 year hiatus. Having first been run in 1904, the Climb to the Clouds, as it’s often referred, is the oldest automotive hillclimb in North America.

Joining the Mt. Washington Auto Road in 1977, Howie Wemyss started his career as a Stage Driver giving guided tours to the summit of Mt. Washington for a number of years before being asked to assume the General Manager’s position in 1987.  Always fascinated with the history of the Auto Road, Wemyss stated recently “I was particularly impressed with Bill Rutan’s 13 minute, 9 second record run from 1961, a record I would talk about on every tour I gave as a Stage Driver. He was a legendary figure in our minds. Shortly after becoming General Manager I was approached by Frank Jost, who at the time was working at the new car museum in Intervale, NH, about putting together an antique car race.  I started getting excited about the possibility of racing here again after all those years – even if it was a vintage race.  We hadn’t gotten all that far in planning when Robert Brotherus appeared in my office one day, wanting to talk with me about a full blown race. He had somehow gotten legendary rally driver John Buffum’s ear and expertise and was able to present a pretty compelling story to a very willing audience. After much internal discussion, in 1990 we brought back this amazing race.”

Since the 1990 Climb to the Clouds, which attracted twenty or so drivers to Pinkham Notch to test their skills against the mountain after a 29 year hiatus, the event has grown exponentially thanks to Wemyss’ guidance and vision, along with the constant support of the owners of the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

Throughout the 1990s, the hillclimb continued to grow, attracting as many as 60 top notch road race, rally and hillclimb drivers from across the United States and Canada for each event as well as a growing crowd of spectators.  New records were set along the 7.6 mile course – first by local rally driver Tim O’Neil from Whitefield, NH in 1990 when he set a fastest time of 7 minutes 45 seconds piloting a rare all-wheel-drive Volkswagen Rally Golf. Record times continued in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995 – with multi-time Canadian rally champion Frank Sprongl recording a time of 6 minutes, 41.99 seconds in 1998 driving a 400 horsepower Audi Quattro S2 – a record that would stand for thirteen years.

In 2004, in recognition of the centennial of the first hillclimb on Mt. Washington in 1904, the race was resurrected as a vintage only event that gathered over 25 vehicles with past Mt. Washington hillclimbing and auto racing history.

In 2011, the Climb to the Clouds was seen as one of the key events needed in a summer long celebration in support of the Mt. Washington Auto Road’s 150th anniversary.  With organizational assistance from the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire and Vermont SportsCar, the Mt. Washington Hillclimb roared back to life after ten years attracting nearly 75 cars and drivers from across the United States, Canada and Europe.  This time, multi-time Rally America National Champion David Higgins from the Isle of Man set a new record time of 6 minutes 11.04 seconds driving a Vermont SportsCar-prepared 2011 Subaru WRX STI for Subaru Rally Team USA.

With the excitement for the race now rekindled, Wemyss met with members of the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire to discuss the possibility of bringing the Nation’s oldest hillclimb back to Mt. Washington every three years or so.  In 2014, with 80 teams making their way to Pinkham Notch from across North America and the United Kingdom, yet another record was set on the Northeast’s tallest peak – a blistering fast time of 6 minutes, 9.09 seconds set again by Subaru Rally Team USA’s driver, David Higgins, along with his talented co-driver, Craig Drew, driving their 2014 Subaru WRX STI.

In 2017, Wemyss and his talented team at the Mt. Washington Auto Road will once again work with the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire to welcome back 80 teams to Green’s Grant in Pinkham Notch, just 8 miles south of Gorham, NH, when the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb returns to the Auto Road July 7-9, 2017.  With 18 or more states represented as well as the countries of Romania, Finland, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and Australia, as well as the United States of America, the event will be the most international automotive hillclimb the Mt. Washington Auto Road has ever held.

“The history of this event is wonderful”, stated Wemyss. “It’s a unique race that appeals to a niche of people who want to challenge themselves on this road, and we’re happy to have people be able to take on that challenge. But aside from that we can’t do this without it making sense from a business prospective – so we hope to do well financially and/or get great publicity that will help make sense of the fact that we close the Road to the public for two half days and one full day in July.” When asked what his hopes were for the 2017 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb, Wemyss replied, “A safe event, great weather, happy sponsors, organizers and fans – and a sub six minute run!”

Set for July 7-9, 2017, the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb will serve as a 3-day motorsports festival filled with a variety of motorsports-oriented activities for all ages including a vendor area, historic car displays and a possible autograph session topped off by the return of the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb along the 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road on Sunday, July 9, 2017.

For more information regarding the 2017 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb, including the events history and list of record times or how to purchase spectator tickets to view the race from the base area or along the course visit www.climbtotheclouds.com.

Story submitted by

Paul Giblin,

Sports Car Club of New Hampshire
mktg-sccnh@usa.net

Shown here, Zeb’s manager Ray Boutin, Memorial Family Birthing Center Director Kris Dascoulias and Memorial’s Vice President of Community Relations & Development Kathy Bennett. Photo credit: Melody Nester

Conway, NH – A local business is helping to look out for the valleys tiniest residents. The Zeb’s Foundation donated $2,000 towards upgrading electronic baby monitors for the Family Birthing Center at Memorial Hospital.

For babies requiring extensive resuscitative measures at birth, the new baby monitors will allow clinicians to monitor their vital signs.

The new monitors will also allow the staff to send data for consultation electronically to specialists at other facilities, potentially avoiding the need to transfer these infants to other hospitals for more advanced treatment.

Concord, NH – New Hampshire state officials announced that the state is experiencing an outbreak of syphilis. According to state health officials the 42 cases reported in New Hampshire for 2017 is about double that of a typical year. That is an increase compared with the past 5 years, when an average of 20 cases were reported during those months.

Between 2012 and 2016, there were on average approximately 80 total cases per year of the disease reported in New Hampshire, with 2016 having the highest number of 104 cases reported for the entire year.

The outbreak in New Hampshire is consistent with national trends and is being seen mainly in men under age 40 and in men who have sex with men (MSM).

“Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can have serious health consequences if left untreated, but it can be cured when a person is diagnosed and given the right antibiotics,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. “Syphilis was close to being eliminated in the United States back in 2000, but over the last decade it has been making a resurgence, and unfortunately, New Hampshire is not immune to the impact of increasing STDs.”

Dr. Sohaib Siddiqui, hospitalist at Memorial Hospital said “As far as I know we have not had any cases in Carroll County as of yet, in terms of in the hospital or our primary.” According to State Health Officials approximately 60% of cases have been in Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties.

When asked if he believes the rise in the disease is related to the on going Opiate Epidemic Dr. Siddiqui said “I don’t think there is a causal relationship as far as we know at this time.”

Syphilis is caused by infection with the Treponema pallidum bacterium, and it can be transmitted through sexual contact. Syphilis is divided into stages (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary), and there are different signs and symptoms associated with each stage. According to Dr. Siddiqui the treatment for syphilis is simple antibiotics, such as penicillin.

Syphilis can infect anybody who is sexually active. If a pregnant woman is infected, she can also pass the infection on to her unborn baby, resulting in congenital syphilis, a severe, disabling, and often life-threatening infection seen in infants. Fortunately, New Hampshire has not identified a case of congenital syphilis since 2013.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) recommends that everyone who is sexually active talk with their healthcare provider about getting tested for STDs, such as syphilis, HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, and that individuals with sexual risk factors should be tested for syphilis, including MSM and anybody who has been diagnosed with another sexually transmitted disease. Pregnant women also need to be routinely tested for syphilis whether or not they have symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of primary and secondary syphilis has increased almost every year since 2000–2001. In 2015, a total of 23,872 primary and secondary syphilis cases were reported nationally which represents a rate of about 8.0 cases per 100,000 population; this represents a 19.0% increase from 2014 and is the highest rate reported since 1994.

For more information on syphilis, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/.