98 Sportage-clutch slipping

Ok here's one that has me stumped. 98 Sportage, 5 speed manual transmission with about 100.000 miles on it. Suddenly it starts slipping in the lower gears for several seconds then catches. If you pump the clutch it feels like it is catching fine. So, is it the clutch or the transmission? It seems to slip in only the lower 3 gears? I think its the clutch but what would cause an intermittant slipping. It does it both cold and hot.

That is a good one and I could only speculate....the folks at www.4x4wire.com/forums are so used to extreme handling that they must have a cue on this.....I suggest you pay a visit....