The Lumberjack World Championships is an annual sporting event held at Lumberjack Bowl in Hayward, WI.

Events include:

Standing Block Chop - A log is secured on its end two feet above the ground. The axeman chops halfway through the front of the block, he then steps around the block, and finishes chopping through from the back side.

Underhand Block Chop - The competitor stands on top of a 2 foot long horizontally positioned log. He chops halfway through from the front side, turns, and finishes chopping through from the back side. The axes the competitors use weigh about 6 pounds, and they generally come from Australia or New Zealand. Accuracy is key as competitor's axe strikes only fractions of an inch from his feet.

Log Rolling - (also known as birling) Done on 12 foot long cedar logs with varying diameters that range between 12 and 15 inches. Contestants roll progressively smaller (faster) logs until someone falls. Matches are normally decided by the best two out of three falls.

Buck Sawing - A competitor uses a six foot long crosscut saw to slice his way through, in just a few seconds, a three foot horizontal block.

Spring Board Chop - The contestant climbs a nine foot spar pole using only his axe and springboards. While balancing on his top springboard (a hardwood plank about 5 feet long, 2 inches thick and 8 inches across) the competitor chops about two thirds of the way through the front of block, he then rotates his body in the opposite direction and finishes chopping through from the back side.

Jack and Jill Sawing - Jack and Jill Bucking is the same as Double Bucking, except it requires the participation of a male and a female (called a lumberjill)

Power Sawing - This starts with the chainsaw on the ground and the logger's hands touching the log he is about to cut. The competitor reaches down and in one fluid motion starts and picks up the saw, then cuts three slices off the end of the block, one down cut, one up cut, and one down cut.

Speed Climbing - A contestant climbs as quickly as possible up a tree and rings a bell. A spike on the shoe called a spur is worn to dig into the tree for traction.

Boom Running - Just like log rolling but with a ten inch (very fast)log and only one logger.

Axe Throwing (exhibition only) - The competitors throw their axes at a four inch bull's eye while standing 20 feet from the target.

Sources:
Lumberjack World Championships - www.lumberjackworldchampionships.com
The United States Axemen's Association - www.usaxemen.com

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night. I work all day.

(Excerpt from Monty Pythons Lumberjack Song)

If you’re somewhat of a sports enthusiast like me, you’ll learn to appreciate those dead hours in the early afternoon. They usually occur between two and four when you’ve grown tired of watching ESPN showing re-runs of last nights SportsCenter. As you sit there nursing your beer and waiting for happy hour to begin, you might ask the bartender to “flip over to The Deuce”. It’s there that you’ll see something unique and in a way, a throwback to the days when men were men and lumberjacks were, Monty Python’s parody aside, lumberjacks. (In a tribute to progress, there’s even a female lumberjack competition that also takes place! I’m not sure but I think the ladies are called “lumberjills”.)

Yes folks, as what seem like miles and miles of blue and red flannel wash over the television set, a real competition with some hefty prize money is at stake. Beefy guys who look like they eat steak right off the cow are butting heads in what can often be a tiresome and grueling exercise. Besides the aforementioned prize money, there’s also pride and bragging rights on the line.

Usually the competition is broken down into six or so main events. When all is said and done, sawdust and wood chips are often all that remain as a badge of honor.

Saw Bucking

In this little event, the contestants use razor sharp saws that are about six feet in length to try and slice through chunks of wood that are over a foot thick. They seem to be able to do it with the efficiency of a power saw. No gas powered engines for these guys, just pure muscle and technique. The type of wood might vary depending on where the competition is being held and the winner is the one who gets through the wood in the fastest amount of time.

Underhand Chop

You gotta be a little nuts to attempt this one. Using an axe the weighs in at about six pounds, contestants first climb aboard a piece of wood about a foot or so thick. They then position their legs and balance themselves on said chunk. When someone screams “GO”, they raise the axe above their head and bring it crashing down right between their legs and inches away from other vital body parts. When they’re about halfway through the log, they turn and face the other way and keep chopping until the log snaps in half. Fastest time and most intact body parts wins!

Speed Climbing

We’ve all heard the saying that “What goes up, must come down” and lumberjacks and jills are no different. In this contest, the participants get to show off their agility, speed, and lack of fear as they race up a pole 60 feet in the air in as little fifteen seconds. Monkeys and other animals that make climbing things their forte would be proud. The way up is all muscle as they dig their gaffed boots and harness into the pole. They way down is pure balls as they drop the sixty feet without seemingly pausing to stop. The first one to hit the “crash mat” on the way down is declared the winner.

Springboard Chop

Another one of those “you gotta be freakin’ kiddin’ me” kind of events. Armed with an axe and two springboards which are five feet long, two inches thick and about eight inches wide, the contestants cut notches in a nine foot tall pole. They then climb about two thirds of the way up and while balancing themselves on the springboard, they chop off the remaining third of the pole. Balance and precision are pre-requisites.

Power Sawing

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines! With chainsaws that would make the dude in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre envious, contestants plow their way through pieces of wood that about fourteen inches thick in mere seconds. A steady hand and concentration go a long way in determining the ultimate winner in this one.

Logrolling

Better know to aficionados as “birling”. In this event, competitors face off against each other in a test of balance, skill, and wits as they perch themselves on opposites side of a log that is floating in a pool and try to “spin” their opponent off the log. The log varies from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter. Some matches have a time limit of two minutes and if neither contestant falls in the water, the match is declared a draw. Some matches are best two out of three so that competitors can switch which end of the log they are balanced on.

There’s a movement afoot that has tradionalists of the sport aghast. It seems that some folks want to cover the log in a carpet to assure that each competitor has equal footing and that no-one has an unfair advantage. Old schoolers want the sport to remain just as Mother Nature intended.

Miscellaneous

There are some other events such as Axe Throwing which is like darts only with a five pound double edge axe. The object is to hit the bulls eye. Something called “Tree-Topping” where these folks will climb to the top of a tree, lash themselves to it and saw off the top. Last but not least, there’s the ever popular “Chainsaw Carving”. Here the athletes become artists as they use their tools of the trade to fashion “art” out of various sized chunks of wood.

In closing, I’d just like to say that while I’ve never met a lumberjack or lumberjill in real life and even if Monty Python’s parody is true, these look like some pretty rough and tough customers and you’d be best not to tangle assholes with them.

Source(s) – too much time sitting at the bar with little to do and nothing on my mind.
http://www.usaxemen.com/usaa/idxrules.shtml

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