Lumberjack World Championships
| Lumberjack World Championships | |
|---|---|
Competition venue
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| Date(s) | July 20–22, 2017 |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Venue | Lumberjack Bowl |
| Location(s) | Hayward, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 46°0′19.6268″N 91°28′36.8929″W / 46.005451889°N 91.476914694°WCoordinates: 46°0′19.6268″N 91°28′36.8929″W / 46.005451889°N 91.476914694°W |
| Inaugurated | 1960 |
| Founder | Tony Wise |
| Capacity | 5,000 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
The Lumberjack World Championships are held annually in Hayward, Wisconsin. The event began in 1960 and is held at the Lumberjack Bowl. There are 21 events for both men and women to compete for over $50,000 in prize money. Contestants come from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The events include sawing, chopping, logrolling, and climbing to test the strength and agility of over 100 competitors.
Competitors saw through a 16-inch-diameter (410 mm) white pine log for the fastest time. A starting cut arc is allowed in the competition. Timing begins when the signal "GO" is called and ends when the log is completely severed. The world record with a time of 11.61 seconds was set in 2006 by Nancy Zalewski.
Using a single bit pinned ax, competitors chop through a horizontal aspen log, 11 inches (280 mm) in diameter, and 15–28 inches (380–710 mm) long, for the fastest time. Nancy Zalewski held the world record in 2009 with a time of 29.24 seconds. Erin Lavoie claimed the record with a time of 25.38 seconds at the Manitoba Lumberjack Championship on Sept. 27, 2016.
Opponents step onto a floating log, cuff it to start the roll, spin it rapidly in the water with their feet, stop or snub it suddenly by digging into the log with special caulked birling shoes and a reverse motion to maneuver their adversaries off balance and into the water, a feat called 'wetting'. Dislodging an opponent constitutes a fall. The cardinal rule of logrolling is 'never take your eyes off your opponent's feet'. The referee starts each match. Competing birlers step off a dock onto a floating log, grasping pike poles held by attendants for balance. As they push off from the dock, the referee instructs the birlers to steady the log. When he is certain both birlers have equal control, he says, 'Throw your poles'. The match is on and continues to a fall or to expiration of the time limit set for each log. When the time limit is reached, the same match continues onto the next smaller log. In all rounds, the contest is decided by the best three out of five falls. Women start on 14-inch (360 mm) logs. In 2003 Tina Bosworth set a new world record of 10 wins.
Starting on the log-rolling dock, two competitors run head to head on adjacent booms. Each competitor must step off the logrolling dock, running across a chain of logrolling logs to the chopping dock, circling a specified competition station and cross the pond on the boom logs back to the logrolling dock. The competitor must step onto the logrolling dock and touch the starting point. This is a timed event and is timed to the tenths of a second. Anyone leaving before the word "go" will be assessed a 10-second penalty.
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