TIMBER!!! Sports.

This has taken me a little longer to put together then I thought it would and a hand injury made typing a pain last week but it is worth the wait.

We did a preview of the Timbersports event at thanksgiving point for the Chronicle and it looked like a cool event. I had seen the lumberjacks compete on ESPN on weekday afternoons when I had nothing to do but watch fringe sporting events. So when Tony said he could get me a press pass to it but we would not actually need the photos I took the opportunity to experience Timbersports live and up close.

The event featured 6 disciplines for the lumberjacks and also a boom run and tree climb.Starting with the chopping and sawing events there was the spring board. Where the competitors would make a hole to put their first bored in then a second hole for their second board and finish by chopping through a block on the top.
The next event was the stock saw where they would use one of the two stock chain saws that were on stage. The one to make two cuts fastest one the event.
The next event was the standing block chop where they would chop through a block when they were standing on the stage.
They then did the underhand chop where they were standing on top of the block they were chopping.
That marked the end of the chopping events and left two sawing events the first being the single buck where they use a manual saw with teeth that are like 3 inches long.
Then the final event for was the Hot Saw. For the Hot Saw the participants use their own modified chain saw. They will use motocross bike engines or wave runner engines so they are loud and fast so fast they often have the chains pop off because of the speed. They would set up glass behind and in front of them is to prevent the chain form leaving the stage.
After the lumberjacks left the stage the woman moved into the spot light for the boom run. It was exciting to watch and fun to shoot.
The final event of the day was the tree climb. The guys race up AND DOWN a 60 foot ploe.
The race up took a lot of focus, skill, power, and coordination between the feet and arms.
The race down took a lot of guts! Down the racers did a free fall with each only having to touch the tree three times on the way down.
To close I want to share some of my favorite pictures form the day. The standing block chop produced my favorite ones, and the wind kicked up a lot of sawdust adding to the amount already coming off the saw itself pictured in the first one.