The route from Dirnach to Gempen is peppered with bends and forest passages, making it ideal for a hill climb. As early as 1911, this route was used for precisely this purpose. In the 1920s, the hill climb attracted over 10,000 spectators! Due to these huge crowds, however, the races were discontinued as the organizers were overwhelmed.
In 1947, the Gempen Race was revived with the first revival, and it remained at this one event until 2011, when some fans of historic racing decided to organize a hill climb to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Gempen Race.
The 2nd Gempen Memorial was organized in 2014 and proved to be a complete success. In beautiful weather, the participants took part in a total of six 5.2-kilometre mountain runs.
The 3rd edition of the Gempen Memorial will be held on September 23, 2017. The aim is to drive evenly, and the race heats are about getting as close as possible to the time set in training. This requires a lot of skill.
Further information can be found on the official website.