POGOPALOOZA
Contestants fly for World Championships of Pogo
Five feet, 15 pounds and $500 worth of piston-powered, neon-colored extruded aluminum balancing on a urethane tip the size of a quarter, effortlessly blasting 10 feet into the air — these aren’t your mother’s pogo sticks.
About 20 extreme pogoers traveled to Wilkinsburg on Saturday with the tools of their trade to continue what they had started on Friday. It was day two of the World Championshipsof Pogo, or Pogopalooza, put on by Xpogo, a professional pogo outfit in Pittsburgh.
Two events were scheduled for the day. The first, a “tech jam,” featured technique-heavy circuits traced around the Xpogo obstacle park on old-school spring sticks — an homage to the earliest practitioners of the sport.
With the speakers pumping AC/DC and the Ramones, competitors pulled off hairy twists and nail-biting turns off high walls and round rails — back flips, 360s, and, in the local lingo, pop tarts, candy bars, candy canes and scissor kicks — racking up high scores for precision and flair.
The 100 or so spectators filled the bleachers at the parking lot off Franklin Avenue that had been converted into a pogo course, taking in hamburgers and hot dogs while sporting Pogopalooza swag as a panel of judges announced the standings.
Then came the main event of the day, the big-air freestyle, where the pogoers brought out their industrial sticks to do highflying stunts. The field of 17 included relative newcomers and seasoned vets. The top 10 scorers from Saturday’s event moved on to Sunday’s final.
On the grass wrapping around the lot, players strapped into helmets and elbow pads, ready to leave everything on the concrete. Parked off to the side: an ambulance, just in case.
“I’ve broken both my kneecaps, every toe on both of my feet,” said Dalton Smith, 25, the reigning seven-time champ from Franklin, Tenn., who on Friday soared 12
feet in the air, shattering his (and the world’s) high-jump record.
“I’ve cracked my hip, cracked my rib, broken my collarbone, dislocated my shoulder, broken my nose five times, had at least three concussions,” Mr. Smith said. “And, yeah, didn’t really faze me.”
What kept him from calling it quits after the fourth broken nose or the second concussion?
“It’s love, it’s obsession,” Mr. Smith said. “It’s hard to describe. You gotta find something that you get that obsessed with and you’ll understand why.”
Connor Poe, 15, also of Franklin, understands. He’s been jumping since he was 12, getting his start by testing tricks he found on YouTube on an old twin mattress stacked with patio cushions that his mom, Marnie Poe, 52, helped him set up in their backyard.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Ms. Poe said, watching Connor spring up above some trees, twirling his heavy pogo stick like a feather. “I pray a lot,” she said, laughing.
In the crowd, the next generation of extreme pogoers looked on in awe.
“The only thing my daughter asked for for her birthday was a pogo stick,” said Aerin Adams, 30, of Fox Chapel, who had been keeping an eye out for summer events for her 8-year-old and her 18-month-old. “When I saw that we had the World Championships of Pogo, it was just kind of like kismet.”
The world championship finals start Sunday at 3 p.m. at Xpogo headquarters at 1256 Franklin Ave. After the competition, kids 15 and under can also join in a “bounce off” to win a free pogo stick. Registration is free at xpogo.com.