While lumberjacks may be a thing of the past, every year over a 100 men and women gather in Hayward, Wisconsin to test their woodworking skills and endurance to compete in the Lumberjack World Championships.

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Participants compete in many events including logrolling, sawing, pole climbing, and the standing chop. 

During the speed climbing, which are done on both a 60-foot and 90-foot cedar spar poles, contestants have to scale the pole and come back down using steel-core climbing ropes and traditional spurs on their shoes.

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The contests were established in 1960, “as a way to acknowledge the rich history of the logging industry across the United States.” The games combine the workday skills required of lumberjacks when the logging industry consisted of men using hand tools to harvest trees.

Today, the tradition is still being celebrated as men and women all vie for more than $50,000 in prize money every summer. All-Around women champions are crowned the “Lady Jill Champion” and men are crowned the “Tony Wise All-Around Champion,” after the founder of the games.

This year’s winners were Erin Lavoie, who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for most Christmas trees cut down in two minutes, and New Zealander Jason Wynard, who won his 16th title.