Hill climbing can be one of the toughest, most painful, expensive, but at the same time, one of the most fun types of dirt bike competitions.

The object of a hill climb contest is to climb up a nearly vertical hill that may or may not have man-made obstacles.

The contest is judged by how long (in seconds) it takes for a rider to get to the top of the hill.  On harder climbs, however, it may be a challenge just to get to the top.  In this case, the competition will be judged by the distance that the rider gets up the hill.

When watching hill climb competitions, you will see that most of the riders have certain types of special equipment.  The most noticeable piece of equipment is the extended swing-arm.  The swing arm is extended for the purpose of extra stability while traveling up the hill.  If the bike did not have this custom part, the bikes would flip over on the rider very easily.  Another variation from a stock bike is the engine.  Most riders will significantly change their engines to have the most extreme power that they can get.  They may even put an entirely different engine in to the bike.  The rider pictured at the left has even gone as far as to put a snow-mobile engine into his Kawisaki.