Steve Bullman

The best lumberjack athletes in the country will take part in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® British Championship in August as they smash through six logs in a matter of seconds using a combination of axes, saws and sheer strength. Returning to BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace on Saturday 3rd August for the fourth consecutive year, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® British Championship will see top logger sports athletes battle against each other in six challenging disciplines; Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck, Standing Block Chop, Springboard and Hot Saw. To take home the title of the best TIMBERSPORTS® athlete in the UK, competitors are awarded maximum points for the fastest time and must display power, precision and endurance in all six disciplines. Competitors will include four-time British champion Elgan Pugh, who is aiming to win his fifth consecutive STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® British Championship. Visitors to the STIHL stand are invited to watch the action unfold, and then try out TIMBERSPORTS® for themselves with the brand-new Virtual Reality Experience, which gives people the chance to virtually test their skills on the TIMBERSPORTS® Stock Saw discipline. A competition will be running throughout the event and the person with the fastest time will take home their very own STIHL cordless chainsaw and Personal Protective Equipment, worth over £550 RRP in total. Spike Milton, STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Global Sports Director and former British Champion, said: “The British TIMBERSPORTS® Championship is one of the most exciting live sports you can watch this summer. All of the athletes will be fiercely competitive, so it’s sure to be edge-of-your-seat action from start to finish, with the competitors pushed to their limits during each challenging discipline. They have been training all year for this and I wish them all the best of luck – may the best man win!” The 2019 Rookie Championship will also take place at BBC Countryfile Live on Sunday 4th August, which is for athletes who are under 25. The top eight rookies from around the country will compete against each other across four of the six TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines, accumulating points in each round based on their placing in each discipline. The athlete with the most points at the end of the fourth round will be crowned the 2019 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® British Rookie Champion. To find out more about the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series please visit https://blog.stihl.co.uk/timbersports/ STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® British Championship - the six disciplines: Springboard – athletes slot two springboards into a vertical tree trunk then chop through a block of wood at the top of the tree, nearly 3m above the ground Stock Saw – athletes race to cut two timber “cookies” with a chainsaw from a horizontally set log. The cookie must be complete and within a defined thickness Standing Block Chop – simulating the felling of a tree, athletes race to chop through a 30cm wood block as quickly as possible from the side Single Buck – athletes race to cut through a 46cm diameter log using a two-metre long single man crosscut saw Underhand Chop – athletes stand on a horizontal log and cleave it in two with an axe, chopping from both sides Hot Saw – athletes race to cut three cookies of a specified thickness from a horizontal trunk using an extremely powerful chainsaw weighing nearly 30kg and with a chain speed of around 250 km/h About STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is an international extreme sports competition series. Its roots lie in Australia and New Zealand as well as in Canada and the United States. Today the world’s best athletes compete in national and international events featuring three axe disciplines and three sawing disciplines. Springboard, Underhand Chop and Standing Block Chop are the classic axe disciplines; Single Buck (single-man cross-cut saw), Stock Saw (standard chain saw) and Hot Saw (tuned, customized chain saw with up to 80 horsepower) are the sawing disciplines. Athletes compete against each other and the clock. For more information on the sport, the tools and the wood management please visit: www.stihl-timbersports.com