The official opening of the 2004 ESPN Great Outdoors Games in Madison, Wis., brought the rhythmic crack of axes to Willow Island at the Alliant Energy Center.
The timber springboard opener wowed crowds that flocked to see some of the world's top choppers build a set of "stairs" into 9-foot-tall logs anchored to the timber stage.
The head-to-head springboard competition had each lumberjack chopping a notch into the log, anchoring a plank in the notch, repeating the process and chopping through an 11-inch log at the top. The first person to sever the top log wins the race and advances to the next round of the bracketed competition.
For the second year in a row, the event was dominated by the competition from Down Under. In fact, the competition began as a repeat of the final three of the 2003 Great Outdoors Game, when David Bolstad of Taurmarunui, New Zealand celebrated his defeat of Dale Ryan in a blistering gold medal round.
In 2003, Ryan came back for revenge. Ryan, of Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia, edged out Bolstad with a time of 56.03 seconds to Bolstad's 59.07. Jason Wynyard of Auckland, New Zealand, took the bronze, his second medal in the event since 2002 when he won silver.
At the end of the 2003 gold medal round, Dale Ryan announced that with this win he was no longer competing in timber sports in the United States, "but I continue to compete in Australia."
Bolstad, while extremely happy with the win and the medal, commented that "this was a difficult competition and I did not cut into the log the way I would have liked to."
"I missed some crucial hits after chopping through most of the wood and it should only take three hits from the back side to go through the 12-inch block," Bolstad said, "but it took more this time."
Final Standings - Springboard
1. Dale Ryan, Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia
2. David Bolstad, Taurmarunui, New Zealand
3. Jason Wynyard, Massey, Aukland, New Zealand
4. Matt Bush, Croghan, N.Y.
5. Carson Bosworth, Lake Geneva, Wis.
6. Dave Jewett, Pittsford, N.Y.
7. Dion Lane, Massey, Aukland, New Zealand
8. Harry Burnsworth, Mill Run, Pa.
