The Wells Bennett Mount Hood Motorcycle Attempt
In the summer of 1924, someone suggested that a motorcycle could be ridden to the summit of Mount Hood. It wasn’t entirely a joke. The Wells Bennett Mount Hood motorcycle attempt in 1924 remains one of the more unusual climbs in Mount Hood’s History.
Wells Bennett had built a career doing things that sounded improbable. By that time, he was already one of the best-known motorcycle riders in the country. He had raced on board tracks, set endurance records, and completed cross-country runs. Along the way, he pushed both himself and his machines to their limits. He also set a 24-hour distance record and rode coast to coast in record time. Those accomplishments placed him among the leading figures in early American motorcycle racing.
By the mid-1920s, Bennett had begun stepping away from competition. He settled in Portland and operated an Excelsior/Henderson motorcycle dealership. Even so, he still looked for new challenges. Around the Fourth of July that summer, during a busy season on Mount Hood, the idea took hold. If men could climb the mountain on foot, why not try it with a motorcycle?
What began as talk soon became a plan.
Preparing for the Climb
In the days before the attempt, Bennett and his crew prepared the machine for conditions it had never faced. He chose a Henderson four-cylinder motorcycle, one of the most powerful machines of its time. He fitted it with special spiked tires to improve traction on snow and ice.
At first, the team considered an even more ambitious plan. They intended to use a 700-foot rope and pulley system to haul the motorcycle up the steepest sections near the summit. Warm weather changed those plans. The heat melted much of the snow and exposed loose rock. As a result, Bennett decided to ride the machine as high as possible under its own power.
He did not attempt the climb alone. Joe Walker, Ard Pratt, and Roy Jones worked ahead of him. They cleared a path and helped stabilize the motorcycle on difficult terrain. A cameraman followed the group to document the attempt, showing that this was both a challenge and a public demonstration.
The Climb
The climb took place in August 1924 during the annual ascent organized by the Hood River post of the American Legion. While climbers moved up the mountain on foot, Bennett approached from the north side and worked toward Cooper Spur.
The terrain immediately made progress difficult. The surface consisted of broken rock, ice, and glacier. There was no continuous path suitable for a motorcycle. In some areas, Bennett rode the machine forward. In others, the crew guided it or held it in place to prevent it from sliding backward.
The climb demanded constant effort. As elevation increased, the air thinned and slowed both the men and the engine. Even so, the motorcycle continued to run and climb.
At one point, Bennett forced the machine over a rough stretch of rock and sheared an engine sprocket key. Without it, the climb could not continue. The crew searched for a replacement but found none. They improvised a temporary fix using the tang of a file, but it failed under pressure. Joe Walker then descended the mountain to retrieve a proper replacement and climbed back up the same day. When he returned, the team resumed the climb.
Reaching Cooper Spur
With the machine repaired, Bennett pushed higher up the mountain. He eventually reached the upper slopes of Cooper Spur at approximately 8,500 feet. Beyond that point, the terrain steepened into rock and ice that a motorcycle could not cross.
A decade earlier, in 1914, motorcyclist Axel Kildahl had set an altitude record of 7,600 feet on the south side of Mount Hood. Bennett’s climb carried a motorcycle higher than that earlier mark, though like Kildahl before him, the mountain ultimately brought the effort to a halt.
A Gallant Attempt
Even without reaching the summit, the attempt drew attention. The motorcycle climbed higher than any had before under such conditions. Climbers on foot watched as the machine worked its way upward across the mountain.
Afterward, Bennett rode the motorcycle back down and returned to Portland under its own power. Aside from minor damage caused by rocks and ice, the machine remained in good condition.
Later accounts described the effort as “gallant though unavailing.” Still, the attempt achieved its purpose. It demonstrated the capability of the machine and reinforced Bennett’s reputation as a rider willing to test limits.
In later years, Bennett left racing and continued working in the automotive field. He eventually retired to a ranch near Mount Hood, where he remained connected to the mountain. He died in 1969 at the age of 78.
Mount Hood has always drawn people looking to test themselves. In 1924, it drew a man on a motorcycle. He did not reach the summit, but he pushed the machine as far as it would go and left behind one of the mountain’s more unusual stories.
Sources
- Motorcyclist Magazine, September 1924
- Chris Price, “William Wells Bennett, Mt. Hood, OR, August 1924”
- Kansas Historical Society – Wells Bennett biography
- Historic photo description and caption