Axemen

Some wood chopping from a local Harvest festival

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Fantastic.
When the chips fly...
Good old Aussie sport from way back.

Nicely photographed..

to continue this thread - I checked with Phil - thanks Phil

A local wood chopping event at Gowrie Park today.
Saw people from all over the world.
World champion lumberjill Martha King, of the United States, a bloke from Wales, also mainlanders - Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria that I know of - maybe others

Wood chopping is an Aussie thing - history says.
The first recorded competition was in the municipality of Ulverstone in 1876, at the back of the Sprent Hotel. The stake was for £25 between Joseph Smith, a local veterinarian, and Jack Biggs of Warragul, Victoria. The logs chopped were three-foot standing blocks. Smith won, but there was a difference of opinion and an argument developed into a 'free-for-all' brawl.

This is the Underhand - start of
They stand on their log and swing that deadly axe between their legs and through the wood

cut half way then flip around and finish the chop

This is the standing chop with a bloke in action whilst another chopper stands on his 'tree board' for the tree felling event
The object of the event in the modern day arena is to climb the tree pole by cutting “board holes” and placing special tree boards in the notches to ascend up the tree in a spiral fashion. Whilst balancing on the top board (3 boards high) the axeman cuts the block half-way through (such as in the Standing Block events) and then descends bringing the same boards back down. The axeman repeats the process up the reverse side of the tree concluding by severing the block in half. The 3 board trees are approx. 4.6m from the ground including the block being cut. The axemen stand on a board at a height of approximately 3.1m above the ground.

Its a sport for young and old - Martha King, of the United States in her late 20's, with oldest an 86 year old. Oldest woman was 60

avondale87 wrote in post #18982279
cut half way then flip around and finish the chop

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forum: Sports

Hosted photo: posted by avondale87 in
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forum: Sports

Good stuff here. My neighbor used to compete on the Stihl Timbersports series. Lots of skill and stamina needed in that sport.ߙ

and you didn't just chop
It seems you load your own block
This youngster and the older lady lugged their blocks across the concrete