The Alpine Ironman was first held on 21 October 1980 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It was a three-day race featuring

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

trail running Trail running is a type of running that takes place on outdoor trails, often in mountainous terrain, and often includes significant ascents and descents. It is similar to both mountain running, mountain and fell running (also known as hill r ...

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 fac ...

. 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, '' ...

, 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

Wānaka Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wānaka ...

. 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 ...

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 and philanthropist. He is the son of Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. When Peter H ...

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 (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

to find a sponsor, and organised the event within five weeks. For the first three years, the Alpine Ironman was held at Wānaka. The next four events were based at Methven. The last three races were held at Queenstown. 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 Team Wild Rose setting out on the paddling section at Full Moon in June 2009, Panorama Mountain Village Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wildern ...

Notes

References

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