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Pogopalooza: The Xpogo World Championship Series is a multi-city international touring championship that brings together the world's top Xpogo 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 in 2004 in a parking lot in Lincoln, Nebraska, Pogopalooza enters its 11th year for 2014 and has grown to be the largest and most widely attended property associated with the sport of Xpogo.
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In 2014, Pogopalooza competitions occurred in Montpellier, France; Pittsburgh, USA; and Helsingborg, Sweden.
The sport of Xpogo
Extreme Pogo or Xpogo is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks on extreme pogo sticks, defined as such by their durability and potential for height. Today's Xpogo 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 Xpogo 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, and the expanding scope of the annual Pogopalooza: The Xpogo World Championship Series.
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 Xpogo 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 Xpogo World Championship Series" and occurs multiple times throughout the year in cities around the world.
Overview
Pogopalooza features the top Xpogo athletes worldwide competing against each other to accumulate championship points that designate world rankings. Each individual Pogopalooza Tour Stop in a given year features the BIG AIR competition, a run-based event where athletes thrown down on a specially designed course, the BEST TRICK competition, and the HIGH JUMP competition. Individual medals and cash are provided to the top three winners in each competition, at each Pogopalooza. Overall, athletes accumulate points across all competitions and events. The Pogopalooza competition is streamlined live through www.Xpogo.com.
In addition 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.
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.