About STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®

History

Logger sports has a tradition stretching back over one hundred years, earning the title 'The Original Extreme Sport'. Back in the late 19th century, lumberjacks began pitting themselves against one another with axe and saw outside their working hours. The sport has its roots in Australia and New Zealand. All the disciplines require the athletes to demonstrate skills in handling the equipment and the wood, along with strength, stamina and a precise technique. 

STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is an international extreme sports competition series. In 1985, STIHL USA joined forces with sports channel ESPN to create the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series in the USA; 2019 marked the 19th year for the competition series in Europe. TIMBERSPORTS® competitions are multidiscipline events. They comprise six disciplines - with the exception of rookie competitions, team competitions and the World Trophy format, which only have four disciplines each.

The sport arrived in Norway in 2000 and in Sweden in 2008. Two World Championships have previously been held in Scandinavia (in Lillehammer in Norway to be precise) in 2012 and 2017. STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is huge in Norway and the World Championship is broadcast on TV2 Norge each year, and the sport is becoming increasingly popular in Sweden too. 

Disciplines

TIMBERSPORTS® comprises six disciplines: three with an axe, two with a chainsaw and one with a handsaw. These disciplines replicate the felling of a tree or the cutting up of a felled tree and have their origins in traditional lumberjack skills.

The disciplines using an axe are Underhand Chop, Standing Block Chop and Springboard. Stock Saw is performed using a powerful standard chainsaw, Single Buck with a two-metre-long handsaw, and Hot Saw with a customised 62 hp chainsaw. 

World Championship

TEAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
More than 100 athletes from around 20 countries compete in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Team World Championship. Four athletes compete in a relay format in the disciplines Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop. The national teams compete in knock-out rounds, where the team that completes the round in the quickest possible time wins and advances to the next round. The two teams that win all their rounds progress to the final and compete for the title of Team World Champion. 

INDIVIDUAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The world’s 12 best athletes compete in the individual competition for the prestigious title of world champion. The athletes compete in all TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines in three rounds, with points awarded based on the quickest times in each discipline. At the end of each round, the athletes with the lowest points totals are eliminated. The six athletes with the highest points totals compete for the title of world champion in the final round, which involves the deafening yet impressive Hot Saw discipline. The athlete with the highest points total after all six disciplines is crowned STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Champion.