The Alpine Ironman was first held on 21 October 1980 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. It was a three-day race featuring

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ...

trail running Trail running is a sport-activity which combines running, and, where there are steep gradients, hiking, that is run "on any unpaved surface". It is similar to both mountain and fell running (also known as hill running). Mountain running may, ...

and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits facin ...

. The idea for the event came from

Robin Judkins Robin Austin Judkins (born 10 May 1949) is a New Zealand sports administrator. He created the Alpine Ironman and the Coast to Coast, races that are often credited for being the origin of adventure racing. He has published an autobiography, ''M ...

, who became the race's director, and his friend and business partner Peter Tocker; they were running Motatapu Canoes (later called the Outdoor Adventure Centre) in Wanaka. Judkins was skiing with the general manager of

Radio Otago Radio Otago was a radio company that operated a group of local radio stations in radio markets around New Zealand from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Radio Otago was started in 1971 when Dunedin station 4XO was started, 4XO was originally branded as ...

and asked for a job as a radio announcer. A few days later, Judkins was asked to do a voice test by talking about his idea for the Alpine Ironman. He made up a story as he went along, including that

Peter Hillary Peter Edmund Hillary (born 26 December 1954) is a New Zealand mountaineer, philanthropist and writer. He is the son of adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount ...

would be competing, and that the first prize would be a trip around the world. When the radio station told him that they wanted to broadcast this recording, Judkins was dumbfounded: "You're joking." They didn't, and Judkins went to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

to find a sponsor, and organised the event within five weeks. For the first three years, the Alpine Ironman was held at Wanaka. The next four events were based at Methven. The last three races were held at

Queenstown Queenstown is the name of several human settlements around the world, nearly all in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. Queenstown may refer to: Places currently named Queenstown *Queenstown, Alberta, a hamlet in Canada * Quee ...

. In 1990, the event was postponed as Judkins was organising the 22-day blockbuster event Xerox Challenge; the Alpine Ironman was not held again. Judkins went on to organise the Coast to Coast race from 1983, and became widely known through having organised the 1990 Xerox Challenge. The Alpine Ironman is considered by some to have been the first

adventure race Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo co ...

Notes

References

* Multisports in New Zealand Sports competitions in New Zealand {{NewZealand-sport-stub