Lumberjack Competition 2002

Lumberjack World Championships Update:
Ben Meadows Company was proud to be a sponsor of this year's Lumberjack World Championships, held in Hayward, Wisconsin. Here are a few highlights of the competition:

	Originally a holding pond for the logs of Weyerhaeuser's North Wisconsin Lumber Company, the Lumberjack Bowl (as it's known to locals) is home to the Lumberjack World Championships. As the highest-paying lumberjack contest in the world, competitors come from all over the world to vie for the title of World Champion and more than $50,000 in prize money. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States were all represented at the LWC. Normally a town of 2,000 people, Hayward gets a little crowded during the LWC. "You can expect to serve that many people a night," said a server at a local restaurant.
	One of the most exciting and fast-paced events at the Lumberjack World Championships is the Boom Run. Several logs are strung together and competitors must sprint from one dock to another across the slippery, rolling logs. They are allowed three falls in the water, but any time spent getting wet means more time on the clock. In these pictures, we see Katie Hoeschler and Tony Bush making their way across the Bowl.
	Sawdust flies as Arden Cogar, Jr. cuts through a log in the Hot Saw competition. Using modified chainsaws that can weigh up to 80 lbs., Hot Saw competitors make three cuts–down, up, and down again-through a 20-inch log in just a few seconds.
	A longtime tradition at lumberjack shows everywhere, the Axe Throw requires strength and accuracy to hit a 24-inch target 30 feet away.
	Rick and Penny Halverson, World Champions in the Jack and Jill Double Buck Sawing Competition, receive their trophies from Ben Meadows' Eric Bakkum.
	Competitors in the Springboard Chopping event possess incredible strength and agility. After chopping a notch in the side of a pole, they set a "foot board" about four feet off the ground. Then they jump up on this board and do it again. Now eight feet in the air, they chop down a piece of wood attached to the top of the pole.
	Guy German, World Record Holder in the 100-Foot Speed Climb, sizes up the competition before his next race. He went on to win the World Championship in the 90-Foot Speed Climb.
	Climbing 60 feet in as little as 15 seconds, Speed Climbing requires an incredible amount of strength, speed and courage. Competitors are timed from the time they start their climb until they are back on the ground. Going up takes all the muscle, coming down takes all the heart. After reaching the top, competitors kick out and begin their fall back to the ground. They are required to "click" at least every thirty feet on their way down, digging their gaffs into the pole to slow their descent-but not by much. First to hit the crash mat wins.
	Watching her opponent's feet closely, Log Roller Shana Martin uses lightning-quick footwork to try and knock her opponent off balance and into the water.
	Even the kids get their feet wet. Some children in Hayward start log rolling as young as the age of three.
	The Lumberjack World Championships have long been a leader in the recognition and support of the women's events in timber sports. Some incredible female athletes have come to compete at the Bowl in a variety of events. Here we see Lizzie Hoeschler and Shana Martin trying to out-step each other in the Log Roll.
	Along with using their incredible balance and coordination to throw off their opponents (literally), competitors in Log Rolling often splash water at their opponents, distracting them from watching their feet. Done correctly, the splasher doesn't miss a step, and his opponent doesn't see it coming.
	Ben Meadows' Eric Bakkum and Jack Schaffer (middle) listen while Steve Maina, D.J. Aderman and Andy Bonicatto (kneeling) explain the time and effort that goes into selecting the wood that's used for competition in the Lumberjack World Championships. The LWC follows strict guidelines and uses only timber that has been selected to be cleared from a forest for construction or industrial use. All of the timber selected is turned on a lathe until it meets the exact size needed for competition. It must also be free of knots and defects, to avoid damaging competitors' axes and saws. All through this process, none of the wood goes to waste. Any timber that can't be used in competition goes to a mill for use in construction. Even the shavings from the turning process on the lathe are put to use in particleboard.
	To ensure everyone competing in the same event has the same chance at winning, the officials at the Lumberjack World Championships take extra care to use wood from the same tree in each cutting event. Each tree is numbered and each twenty-foot section of each tree is also numbered. Wood near the base of a tree is generally denser, firmer and harder to cut. Wood from the top of a tree is usually easier to cut. During competition, officials try to give each competitor a cut of wood from the same section so that each competitor has the same level of difficulty.
	Ben Meadows Company was proud to participate in this year's Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin. We were lucky enough to send some of our staff to Hayward. Photographer Derek Poff and Copywriter Eric Bakkum took a break from producing catalogs to bring you the exciting images and stories you see here. Also along for this wild ride was one of the people you might speak to from our Technical Services Department, Jack Schaffer. He was at this year's championships discovering more about the event and the people that make it great.