Extreme lumberjacking gets our vote
What it is: The Outdoor Life Network (OLN) is perhaps best known for its hunting and fishing shows, such as “Buckmasters,” “Beretta’s Bird Hunter’s Journal” and “Lindner’s Angling Edge.” But for outdoor sports of a different nature, I tune in to “Lumberjack World Championships,” a series that showcases hardy men – and women – going head-to-head in competitions ranging from the underhand block chop to single buck sawing to the ever- popular log-rolling face-off.
What it’s all about: Competitors from Canada, the northern United States and other tree-filled spots around the world come together to take turns sawing logs and climbing 80-foot-tall cedar poles for fame and fortune – or at least the modest glory that comes with being named the world champion standing block chopper. Events are varied, but most require proficiency with an ax or a long bucking saw – except, of course, those water-based battles that quickly disprove the notion that nothing could be easier than falling off a log.
Why we like it: Ever since my formative years, when I spent too many lazy weekend afternoons watching ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” with my father, I’ve been a sucker for the – how should I put this – more “nontraditional” athletic endeavors. Football is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, basketball bores me to tears and hockey … well, let’s just say I watch it for the fights. But cliff diving? Barrel jumping? Motorcycle riding on ice? Settle in and pass the Doritos – I’m not leaving the couch all afternoon.
Until I stumbled upon an episode of “Lumberjack World Championships,” I thought my offbeat sports viewing would be limited to the biennial Olympics and its more obscure competitions, such as handball, curling and, of course, synchronized swimming. Now I can tune in every week for a fix of extreme sawing and other unusual outdoor challenges.
My favorite event thus far is springboard chopping, a tricky feat in which the competitors must use an ax to cut a series of notches in a tall spar pole. Each notch is used to brace a “springboard,” a long plank stuck in the pole on which the chopper must climb and stand while cutting the next springboard notch. After climbing to a height of 9 feet (while standing on a wooden plank stuck precariously into the side of the pole), the lumberjack must chop through a 12-inch aspen log mounted on the top of the spar pole. The current world record holder, Dave Bolstad, completed the task in just 41.15 seconds in 2003 – a feat that might never land him on the cover of a Wheaties box, but still marks him indelibly as a man who knows how to let the chips fall where they may.