In the late 1800s to the early 1900s, hundreds of logging camps dotted the woods of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and shipping and sawmill towns popped up along the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers.
During the spring thaw, lumbermen gathered in sawmill towns to compete in events based on their daily chores -- from racing up a "spar pole" (a tree stripped of its branches and hooked up with cables and pulleys to move logs) to flinging axes at targets and chopping contests.
During the Timberworks Lumberjack Show, one of the events at the Hastings Rivertown Days Festival next weekend, lumberjack athletes will compete in these century-old sports, interspersing the action with bits of history and comedy.
While timber sports have a long history -- Omaha hosted the first logrolling championship in 1898 and has held one every year since -- Dave Weatherhead, a performer and competitor in the show, said the popularity of the timber-sport series on ESPN has sparked renewed interest in the fast-paced and sometimes daring events.
"The logging industry has always been kind of a dangerous occupation," Weatherhead said. "It's not without its risks, that's for sure."
Crowds especially love the log rolling, or birling, he said, which involves two competitors balancing, rocking and spinning logs, trying to send the opponent flying into the water. The sport originated with workers called "river pigs" who would run across the logs in the river to break up log jams.
The pole climbing, a new event at Hastings this year, also tends to be a crowd-pleaser, as athletes race up poles in 10 to 12 seconds.
"That's an exciting aspect of the show," Weatherhead said. "The speed at which the guys can get up the trees is kind of amazing."
