The Pole Pedal Paddle was a winter triathlon held in Jackson, WY that was meant to serve as the area’s final blowout of the winter. The PPP was a misnomer as there were actually four events; downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, road biking, and canoeing or kayaking. My home in Lead, SD had a similar race as part of its Winter Carnival called the Glide, Ride, and Slide. The Lead version had both downhill and cross country skiing, along with a mountain bike leg. I raced the Glide, Ride, and Slide from 1988 through 1991 and managed to do okay on this much smaller stage.
Karl
and I were interested in racing the PPP. After our friend Tod moved to Jardine,
MT, we finally had the connection we needed to make the race possible for us. We
didn’t train specifically for the race. But I was cross country skiing a lot in
the winter and racing both classic and freestyle in our local race series.
Though I didn’t bike in the winter, my main sport in the summer was mountain
biking, so I felt that I had two disciplines covered. And I had finally learned
to downhill ski after moving to the Black Hills, but skiing at Terry Peak would
prove a whole different world than skiing at Jackson Hole. On the other hand, I
had not done more than a handful of canoe trips in the last decade plus before
the race. Our plan was for Karl and I to drive over from Lead, meet Tod, and
spend Friday getting organized. The three of us would race solo on Saturday. 
My PPP Race bib.
Karl
and I left Lead after work on Thursday and spent 8 ½ hours driving to Jackson,
where we got a motel room. I’m not sure if we drove through Worland or Casper,
but we used the cut off through Pavillion that allowed us to bypass Riverton.
On
Friday I rented a canoe from the Snake River Kayak School. I was able to stash
the canoe at the put-in for the paddle leg which was likely at the Southpark
Boat Ramp where US 26/89 crosses Snake River. Then we met up with Tod and got
comp passes for Jackson Hole which let us ski for the remainder of the day. I
only skied the racecourse which was on the Gros Ventre run. Most of the upper
expert trails Karl and Tod skied were too difficult for me. Tod had skied for Colorado
School of Mines in college and Karl was an excellent skier. Both were better
cross country skiers than I was, and Karl was much stronger on the road bike.
Also, in contrast to me, they both did a lot of whitewater paddling. We stayed Friday
night in Jackson with friends of Tod, who had spent the winter season as ski
bums.
The
race started with waves of Le Mans style starts to the downhill ski run. I started
with about ten other guys in my division. We ran about 50 feet and then jumped
into our ski boots. PPP attracted a range of entrants. The were dozens of team
classifications and I entered the Men’s Recreational while Karl and Tod were in
the Men’s Racing Class. Some folks were there just for a good time, and several
of the teams were in full party mode start to finish. But the field also had some
top drawer talent, especially in the ski legs. We would be heading down the run
used for FIS women’s giant slalom. I was surprised to make it down alive, and
even had a bit of fun trying to make high speed turns. But I got passed by
everyone in the wave behind us, and I’m sure my slow and unpredictable skiing
was a hazard to the other racers.
Next
up was cross country skiing. The drop off point for our gear had been relocated
since the morning, and my first struggle was to find my skis. My next struggle was
a battle with bad wax. I had my skating skis, and had totally missed the wax on
a warm morning, leaving me with essentially zero glide for the entire leg. Some
of Tod’s friends from Gardiner helped out, but I was horribly slow. There were
two climbs up part of the downhill slope, and I managed to catch a pair of
skiers on those. By the end of my leg, I managed to ski off about half my
sticky wax, but I’d worked way too hard for little progress.
The
bike transition area was also at the ski area (Later versions of the race would
add a fifth run leg here). I got away clean, but the first third of the race
was very windy. ( I assume we rode down the park road to Moose, then into
Jackson and finally south on US 191 toward the Hobacks). The bike course was
flat and fast, and I made up four places on my all steel Schwinn Traveler
touring bike.
The
final leg would be on the water. I got into a borrowed wet suit and vest at the
transition. I made my first blunder well before getting out of sight of the
transition. Unable to steer the whitewater canoe, I hit the bridge abutment and
spun around in a circle before reaching the first bend. But I settled down
enough so that a course volunteer let me continue down river. I was getting
passed by everyone in the race. Even though the water was easy with just a few
wavy sections I managed to hit the bank twice. Next time, rent a boat with a
keel, and maybe even practice a bit! I tried paddling from the stern, flipping around
and paddling backwards from the bow seat, and trying to kneel in the middle
(far too hard on the knees) but never found an effective position. But I made
it to the end at Astoria Hot Springs. The biking took about an hour and the
paddling about two hours. I finished dead last in my division, by a wide
margin.
My
official splits were:7:27, 27:07, 1:07:26, and 1:58:28, for a total of 3:40:28.
Several of my splits were near the slowest of the entire field. Later versions
of the race reported the cross country leg was 10K, the bike leg was19.5 miles,
and the paddle was 9 miles, and I assume that’s about what the 1991 course was.
Karl
and Tod did much better. Tod led through the ski legs, then Karl passed him on
the bike. But Tod got through the paddle transition area first, and Karl never
saw him. When Karl passed me on the river he didn’t believe that I had already
seen Tod. They both ended up middle of the pack in the racing division at
around 2:35.
Overall,
the race was a blast. All the legs were fun despite the misadventures, and most
of those misadventures were correctable. Karl and I drove home on Sunday in
light snow.
Karl
and I would come back in 1992, but this time as part of a team with Brad Young.
The team entry cut down substantially on logistics. We only had to haul a
single boat and bike, along with all our ski gear. I have no notes from that
race, but the results show us taking third place in the Men’s Racing Division
on 4-4-92. Brad skied the downhill leg. I took over for a run leg as there was
not enough snow left to have a Nordic ski race. Karl then rode the bike leg,
with Brad doing the final paddle leg. Brad had borrowed a sea kayak from a
friend of Leroy Hart’s. The long, keeled boat was much faster than the white
water or touring boats most other teams used. My run went well, a little over
20 minutes for what was probably a 5K course. There were some fast runners. I
remember looking over my shoulder to spot an overtaking runner, not seeing him,
then turning ahead to where he was already 10 feet in front. I would later
encounter that same runner that summer at a hotel in Boulder when I was there
to visit my folks and my cousin Betsy and her family. I was wearing my PPP
T-shirt poolside when we struck up a conversation.
My other PPP race bib.
The
PPP debuted in 1975 and lasted until 2022, when the Jackson Hole Ski &
Snowboard Club canceled the 2023 Pole Pedal Paddle due to rising costs,
volunteer shortages and a decline in participation.
