Pole Pedal Paddle
Kayaking
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Some believe it was the prototype for the triathlon, a race combining three sports into a single event, but back in 1975 Pole Pedal Paddle founder Harry Baxter considered PPP to be just a playful end to a winter at the Jackson Hole Ski Resort.
"I was looking for a fun event to wrap up the season," Baxter once told a reporter. "I wanted to come up with something that anybody could get involved in."
Baxter seems to have succeeded.
The PPP attracts racers of every stripe, from highly-competitive individuals who train hard and race harder to "fun class" entrants who put far more effort into their costumes than into their aerobic conditioning.
In fact, Pole Pedal Paddle is not a triathlon at all, but a four-event "quadrathlon."
The first event is a giant slalom that runs the full 4,139 vertical feet of Rendezvous Mountain. A cross-country ski race constitutes the second leg of PPP. During poor snow years a running leg replaces the Nordic portion of the race. Legs three and four are a bike race and a paddle down the Snake River.
Serious racers usually complete the event in a bit more than two hours. Fun class racers often use half a day or more, although none of them has ever been known to miss the post-race party. The PPP is sponsored by, and is a fund-raiser for, the Jackson Hole Ski Club. For more information, call the ski club at (307) 733-6433.
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