Pole climbing competition at the ploughing

Git101 · 14-09-2011 4:00pm #1

Thought this may be of interest to some here.

Last week 2 Douglas fir trees were felled to be used for the first Husqvarna pole climbing competition to be held at the National Ploughing Championships.
The competition involves competitors racing as fast as possible up the poles :eek:

The tree were 42 meters (about 138 feet) when felled and trimmed to 34 meters (about 113 feet) for transport.

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The type of permit for transport meant that the stems had to be transported at night from near Rathdrum in Co. Wicklow to the ploughing site near Athy Co.Kildare.

For events like this the poles are normally buried 15-20 feet into the ground. In this case the were set in at 17 feet, bedrock was hit at that point.

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The photo above gives some idea of the scale of the poles.

There are some more photo here

photostream

Edit: sorry can't get the photos to upload on the post
If anyone knows why I can't upload photos from flickr to the post please let me know.

dipper.meath16 · 14-09-2011 4:50pm

Savage job, possibly the longest transportation iv ever seen!!!

youtube! · 14-09-2011 4:54pm

Godamm it I thought this thread was about well built farmers wives gettin their kit off in a lap dancing club in Moynalty or some such place.

Kovu · 14-09-2011 5:37pm

youtube! wrote: »

Godamm it I thought this thread was about well built farmers wives gettin their kit off in a lap dancing club in Moynalty or some such place.

Glad I'm not the only one!:p

GY A1 · 14-09-2011 6:14pm

they do this pole climbing at the highland show in edinburgh
must be copying them,
i'd say the highland show ones are higher tho :eek:

Yi Harr · 14-09-2011 6:29pm

It's a traditional logger sports skill which probably originates from guys having to climb trees in order to either lop the top of them prior to felling or to stick a shackle in them for skylining.

Tora Bora · 14-09-2011 7:28pm

Jeez, when I saw the title of this thread, I had visions of Anna May McHugh, pole dancing at the ploughing;)

Yi Harr · 14-09-2011 7:33pm

Had to google image search her. I'm very glad I didn't include the term 'pole climbing' in the search.

dipper.meath16 · 15-09-2011 9:39am

GY A1 wrote: »

they do this pole climbing at the highland show in edinburgh
must be copying them,
i'd say the highland show ones are higher tho :eek:

Iv never been to the highland show, however these poles are the same, pole climbing comp rules say the climbers must climb 80ft!! the world record was broken recently at just over 9seconds.. thats crazy!! cant wait to see them at the show, it will a sight to see!!

Git101 · 16-09-2011 11:23am

This is the video of the trees being selected, felled and setup for the pole climbing competition. It really gives a good perspective of their length and the work required to transport and set them up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2VRKdxR52A

pakalasa · 16-09-2011 1:42pm

"If ye get lost, we'll meet ya at the 2 poles"

dipper.meath16 · 16-09-2011 2:02pm

ID say you could get lost at them to!! its goin to be a spectacle watching the pros race up them!

Yi Harr · 16-09-2011 4:26pm

In Canada I saw guys doing ascent/descent races. The video below is fairly tame as apparently broken legs are quite common on the descent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS6nR2p8WdY

Git101 · 16-09-2011 4:51pm

Yi Harr wrote: »

In Canada I saw guys doing ascent/descent races. The video below is fairly tame as apparently broken legs are quite common on the descent.

Yeah, those lads are a bit mad.

Our lot only have to get to the top, they are lowered back to the ground by the belay team (no broken legs allowed

)

Git101 · 16-09-2011 5:01pm

The Irish competition will be more like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LvcvikUylk

Git101 · 21-09-2011 4:51pm

Second day of the Husqvarna pole climbing competition has just finished. Another great days entertainment.
The novice Irish climbers are doing really well.
In the expert category we have 1 top Irish contender. Tomorrows final could match him with the current world record holder. The world record stands at 9.06 seconds.
There have been some climbs today and yesterday in just over 10 seconds.
I'll try to post some video to show just how fast these guys can climb 80 feet.

bbam · 21-09-2011 5:03pm

We were in (and fed)just in time for thismornings first few runs..
Really impressive, great crack to watch...

Good to see more of these sports there to diversify the interest on the day..

O.A.P · 21-09-2011 11:26pm

I enjoyed the show also, its hard to belive how fast they get to the top. The lads with the axes were no slouch's either and some of them were quicker with the cross cut than with a chainsaw.

Git101 · 22-09-2011 11:10pm

O.A.P wrote: »

I enjoyed the show also, its hard to belive how fast they get to the top.

The final of the pole climbing today was fantastic. The top Irish competitor won by the smallest of margins.

I took some video clips but couldn't upload to boards from my phone. I'll post the results and try to post the video tomorrow.

O.A.P wrote: »

The lads with the axes were no slouch's either and some of them were quicker with the cross cut than with a chainsaw.

The axe lads had a ball, they loved the atmosphere at the show and the craic with the crowd.

I think this show was a real crowd pleaser, hopefully it will be even bigger and better next year.

irishh_bob · 23-09-2011 12:11am

Git101 wrote: »

Thought this may be of interest to some here.

Last week 2 Douglas fir trees were felled to be used for the first Husqvarna pole climbing competition to be held at the National Ploughing Championships.
The competition involves competitors racing as fast as possible up the poles :eek:

The tree were 42 meters (about 138 feet) when felled and trimmed to 34 meters (about 113 feet) for transport.

The type of permit for transport meant that the stems had to be transported at night from near Rathdrum in Co. Wicklow to the ploughing site near Athy Co.Kildare.

For events like this the poles are normally buried 15-20 feet into the ground. In this case the were set in at 17 feet, bedrock was hit at that point.

The photo above gives some idea of the scale of the poles.

There are some more photo here

Edit: sorry can't get the photos to upload on the post
If anyone knows why I can't upload photos from flickr to the post please let me know.

maybe its the late hour but i took the thread title up completley wrong

Git101 · 26-09-2011 4:15pm

A home win by Mark Willis from Wicklow who beat world record holder Grant Galliard by the smallest of margins.

A short video clip taken by one of the competitors mostly using a helmet camera, interesting view from the top of the poles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZgdGwl0wEM

Pole climbing competition at the ploughing

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