Woodchop

It’s one of the ultimate spectacles of the Show when the men and women let loose with the axe and the woodchips fly. The 2010 competition will see 195 competitors from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA compete for over $150,000 in prize money. Among the highlights are the Mens International Relay from April 7-9, when Australia’s best axemen take on their trans-Tasman rivals.

From April 3-5, the Australian Ladies Team will test their skills against the best women’s teams from New Zealand, Canada and the USA in the Ladies International Relay in The Channel 9 Woodchop Arena. All the men’s events are World Titles, and the Sydney Royal Easter Show is the only agricultural show in the country that hosts world championship woodchop events.

Did you know:

• Woodchopping originated from a £25 bet between two men in a bar in Ulverstone, Tasmania in 1870 to see who could fell a tree the fastest.
  
  
• Woodchopping at the Sydney Royal Easter Show is more than 100 years old.
  
  
• The Sydney Royal Easter Show is the largest woodchop competition in the world and is known as the “Wimbledon of Woodchop”.
  
  
• World Championship events are held in the disciplines of Underhand, Standing Block, Treefelling and Cross Cut Sawing (single & double handed).