Pogopalooza
Introduction Pogopalooza 10 High Jump Record'''Pogopalooza''': The World Championships of pogo is an annual championship that brings together the world's top Extreme Pogo athletes for multiple days of competition, exhibition, and world record setting. Along with the competition, Pogopalooza also features the largest exposition of pogo stick companies, a Free Jump/Clinic area for people of all ages to try out an array of pogo sticks – classic to extreme, along with sponsorship activations and experiences associated with the event. The organizers of Pogopalooza refer to the event as "the largest pogo stick event on the planet. "Started by YouTube personality Pogobat in 2004 in a parking lot in Lincoln, Nebraska, Pogopalooza entered its 18th year for 2022 and has grown to be the largest and most widely attended property associated with the sport of Extreme Pogo.The event has had many homes, and briefly was established as a global tour, and has been featured on ESPN as a part of its Ocho Day programming. It currently now is based in Xpogo LLC's home of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania,Pogopalooza 10 Crowd Shot
The sport of Extreme Pogo '''Extreme Pogo''' is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks on extreme pogo sticks, defined as such by their durability and potential for height. It draws from influences of other action sports such as skate, BMX, Parkour and more, integrating the use of obstacles and performance of tricks.Today's sticks have the potential for over 10 ft. of height (measured from the ground to the bottom of the tip). Extreme pogo is a young extreme sport and is currently emerging into popular culture as evidenced by the growing number of athletes around the globe, growing sales from extreme pogo companies, the popularity of Xpogo athlete exhibition teams, positive feedback and continued interest in Xpogo content.
History The first Pogopalooza was held in 2004 in a parking lot in Nebraska, organized by Dan Brown, one of the original Xpogo founders. While the event was small in scope and only drew friends and family, it set the precedent to hold an annual event bringing together extreme pogo athletes from around the country, and eventually the world. Each year since Pogopalooza 1, the event grew in scope and design. Gaining more structure, media attention, athlete attendance, Pogopalooza progressed steadily for 5 years. Pogopalooza 6 in 2009, which was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania saw the biggest turnout of athletes yet, over 50+ from across the United States, Canada, and England and involved the whole of the City through four days of events and competition. Post-Pogopalooza 6 national media began to take note of extreme pogo in the biggest manner to date. The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page article on the sport and numerous other countrywide and even international publications began covering athletes, events, and the growth of extreme pogo in general. Pogopalooza 7, 8, and 9 represented steady progress as well, leading up to Pogopalooza 10, which stood as another breakout year. Widely attended and heavily covered, Pogopalooza 10 occurred in New York City across July 26-28th, 2013.After the event, organizers announced that the Pogopalooza competition would be expanded into a multi-city international touring format for 2014.Today, the event is referred to as "Pogopalooza: The World Championships of Pogo" and is based at Xpogo LLC's homebase of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.In 2022, Xpogo hosted the Pogopalooza Cup on ESPN2, as a part of their The Ocho Day in Rock Hill, South Carolina. This was an auxiliary freestyle competition and was won by Russ Kaus. Pogopalooza Biff StickFlip===Overview===Pogopalooza features the top Xpogo athletes worldwide competing against each other in 4 main categories. '''Events''''''''Tech Freestyle''''' is a run based competition where competitors are only permitted to use spring based pogo sticks. Athletes will perform timed runs on a specially designed course of obstacles, and are scored on a mix of their skill and style, with bails (falls) counting against their final score. Runs are scored by 5 judges, with the highest and lowest total scores being dropped. '''''Big Air Freestyle''''' is a run-based event where competitors are permitted to use Big Air extreme sticks (typically Vurtego Pogo sticks) Athletes will perform timed runs on a specially designed course of obstacles, and are scored on a mix of their skill and style, with bails (falls) counting against their final score. Typically the Big Air Winner is considered the best extreme pogo sticker in the world for that year. Runs are scored by 5 judges, with the highest and lowest total scores being dropped. '''''High Jump''''' is a competition to see who can clear the highest height over a bar on a pogo stick. Athletes are permitted to use multiple techniques to clear the bar. The current record holder and High Jump champion is Dalton Smith, who uses a stickflip technique, and achieved 12' at Pogopalooza 2022.Henry Cabelus holds the High Jump record for the straight jump method, which was set at Pogopalooza 2021 at 11' 2.5"'''''Best Trick''''' is a jam based competition where athletes take turns during a 30-minute jam to land the best trick, as judged by 5 Pogopalooza judges, judges score based on trick difficulty, with an emphasis on tricks that have never been landed before. Participants can be removed by judges from the Jam if their attempted tricks are deemed not to be of winning quality. '''''15 and Under Kids Bounce Off''''' The final event of Pogopalooza is open to competitors 15 years old and younger. They compete to see who can continually bounce the longest, with challenges such as bouncing no handed, being added after a certain time limit. The winner typically will receive a free pogo stick.In addition to the competition, a world record day kicks off each Pogopalooza, where athletes attempt to break any one of the 15 Xpogo LLC-recognized Guinness World Records.Additionally, all of the world's top pogo stick manufacturers normally attend each Pogopalooza, exhibiting their products and allowing the public to try all pogo sticks in the Free Jump/Clinic area.===Previous Pogopalooza locations===YearNameLocation(s)Big Air WinnerBest Trick WinnerHigh Jump WinnerTech Winner 2004  Pogopalooza 1  Nebraska  2005  Pogopalooza 2  Chicago, Illinois 2006  Pogopalooza 3  CuscoNick McClintock 2007  Pogopalooza 4 LamayNick McClintockFred Grzybowski 2008  Pogopalooza 5  Buena Park, CaliforniaNick McClintock 2009  Pogopalooza 6  Pittsburgh Biff HutchisonJake GartlandDan MahoneyEarl Pote 2010  Pogopalooza 7  Salt Lake CityFred GrzybowskiDan MahoneyDan MahoneyEarl Pote 2011  Pogopalooza 8  Costa Mesa, CaliforniaJake GartlandDan MahoneyDan MahoneyTone Staubs 2012  Pogopalooza 9  Costa Mesa, CaliforniaBiff HutchisonDan MahoneyBiff Hutchison 2013  Pogopalooza 10  New York CityBiff HutchisonDan MahoneyBiff HutchisonN/A 2014  Pogopalooza 2014  Montpellier, FrancePittsburgh, USAHelsingborg, SwedenDalton SmithDmitry ArsenyevDmitry ArsenyevN/A 2015  Pogopalooza 2015  US Open: Jacksonville, Florida, USAWorld Finals: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USADalton SmithNic PatinoDalton Smith / Biff Hutchison (tie)N/A 2016  Pogopalooza 2016  Braddock, PennsylvaniaDalton SmithSteven BennettNic PatinoN/A2017No Pogopalooza2018Pogopalooza 2018Wilkinsburg, PADalton SmithHenry CabelusHenry CabelusMichael Mena2019Pogopalooza 2019WIlkinsburg, PADalton SmithFlynn NymanMichael MenaTone Staubs2020Pogopalooza 2020Wilkinsburg, PADalton SmithRuss KausDalton SmithTone Staubs2021Pogopalooza 2021Pittsburgh / WIlkinsburgh, PADalton SmithSteven BennettDalton SmithTone Staubs2022Pogopalooza 2022Pittsburgh / Wilkinsburgh, PAKonner KelloggKonner KelloggDalton SmithTone Staubs2022Pogopalooza CupRock Hill, SCRuss KausN/AN/AN/A===Course design and construction===Xpogo LLC designs and builds the Pogopalooza courses. These courses consist of a series of boxes, ramps, steps, etc., which the jumpers utilize in their runs. The features of the course are most commonly topped with plywood and the frame made from two by fours. The final products are then painted. A new course is constructed for each Pogopalooza and then dismantled afterwards.===Multiple Time Pogopalooza Champions===Dalton Smith is considered by many to be the greatest competitor in Pogopalooza history with 11 total gold medals, Dan Mahoney has 7 combined medals, and Biff Hutchison has 6.AthleteBig Air Gold MedalsBest Trick Gold MedalsHigh Jump Gold MedalsTech Gold Medals Konnor Kellog1100 Steven Bennet0200 Michael Mena0011 Fred Grzybowski1001 Tone Staubs0004 Dalton Smith7040 Russ Kaus1100 Henry Cabelus 0110 Dmitry Arsenyev0110Biff Hutchison3030Jake Gartland1100Dan Mahoney0430Nick McClintock0210
References
External links * Pogopalooza Official Site