Basque Wood Chopping (Aizkolaris)

Aizkolaris

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"Tradition Has it, That the Prize Is a Herd of Rams."

- World Sports Encyclopedia

Okay, fine: It's not wood-it's timber. Whatever it's called, some folks just aren't satisfied by the fact that it's no longer a growing tree. So they cut it up more-for money. Or, in the case of the hundred-year-old Basque wood-chopping competition known as Aizkolaris, they compete for a herd of rams.

The sport is said to date back to medieval times and was recorded beginning in the 19th century. Today, at the Urrezko Aizkora ("Golden Axe"), held in Spain's Basque country, they award cash prizes, not to mention pride and a possible sponsorship endorsement with Elmer's Interior Wood Glue. An aizkolaris is a staple of Basque festivals, many of which have seen up to 30,000 spectators, radio and TV broadcasts, and axe-wielders from as far as Australia and the United States. Competitors stand horizontally across a chunk of tree trunk, chopping down the middle until the lumber between his ankles is severed. It's speed, not points, that wins this event; chopping between your own two feet seems to be enough incentive for precision.

Many of today's ax-wielding events around the world, such as the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin, and the STIHL Timbersports World Championships in Farmley, Ireland, use logs with a 12- or 16-inch diameter: Those contests are over in a matter of seconds. But the logs used in the aizkolaris events have a minimum diameter of 36 inches, often range between 45 and 60 inches, and sometimes include logs over 100 inches across in a bonus round: These competitions last significantly longer, and choppers generally whittle away at anywhere between six and 20 logs, which can require hours of nerve-wracking whacking and hacking. In 1924, a man completed twenty 54-inch trunks in 1:09:32, earning him a herd of well-deserved rams and the record for world's largest "paper cut."

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