Topping
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Similar to the speed climbing, yet with an added challenge, the Tree Topping contest requires 12 competitors to ascend a 65-foot spar pole with a razor-sharp crosscut saw tethered to their bodies. At the top, they must completely cut a disc off of a log that has been affixed to the top of the pole. Only then is time called.
Don't try this at home, folks. It takes an unusually strong, agile, and mentally tough athlete to even attempt this. No wonder many of the competitors in the Speed Climbing competition double up and perform in the Tree Topping. But unlike Speed Climbing, Tree Topping adds that extra element of good sawyering. The winner is not going to be a guy who can simply climb the pole quickly. The guy who wins gold also has to have the strength and technique to cut wood 65 feet up.
At the 2002 Great Outdoor Games, Wade Stewart of Parksville, British Columbia, took the gold medal from reigning champion Greg Hart of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. But the U.S. is represented well in this sport, too. Brian Bartow, of Grant's Pass, Ore. medaled last year with a bronze and is prepared to bring gold home to the U.S. in Reno, Nev. this summer at ESPN's Great Outdoor Games.
Qualifying Criteria
Athletes have been selected for competition in the Great Outdoor Games based on their rankings in the respective disciplines. The top three winners from each of last year's timber events will receive automatic invitations, with the exception of the Team Relay and the Mixed Doubles Boom Run.
Timber athletes are ranked by the Lumberjack Sports World Ranking Association. Rankings are determined by the average of points assigned by regional committee representatives.
Timber terms
Birling
Log rolling
Boom
A long string of logs that are connected end to end, for easy storage & transportation.
Buck
To cut a fallen tree into smaller sections.
Cookie
The section of wood that is severed during crosscut or power sawing events.
Cut-out
To cut over the line marked on wood by the judge that indicates the width of wood to be sawed within.
Drive
Last portion of a chopping event when the axeman places his most powerful hits to severe the block. "he's going for the drive."
Drivers
Power hits in any chopping event used to severe the wood.
Jigger
a slang term (Australia & New Zealand) c meaning "up & down."
M Tooth
Saw with a distinctive pattern of its teeth forming an "M". Each tooth acts as a cutter & raker, with every other tooth reversed, so that both sides of the groove are cut. The chips produced are small & confetti-like. An M Tooth is very efficient in hard woods.
Peg & Raker
A saw with teeth that appear in two "pegs" which cut alternate sides of the groove, a "raker" rakes the cut wood out in long, single strands. With this saw, a single cut can run the entire diameter of the wood.
Pike
Pole used in the River drive competition
Pockets
Holes cut into springboard poles into which the springboard itself is inserted. A good pocket is cut in 4 hits.
River pig
A logger who runs out into jammed logs to open the flow of timber. Also used synonymously for a "river driver" competition.
Scarf
In chopping events, the portion of wood that has been removed from the block.
Slab
A portion of the log, which has been dislodged as a result of a split off to a foothold or running up, of the first chip in the standing event. May result in disqualification. Note: competitors prepare their competition blocks by using "slab nail" around the edges to prevent.
Slide-chop
Technique used primarily by Australian axemen where the top hand slides toward the axe head after the stroke as the competitor raises the ace for the next swing.
Wedger
Assistant used in the cross-cut sawing events who wedges the wood open & lubricates the saw.
Great Outdoor Games