Nelson axeman makes the cut
A Nelson man’s proved his axewielding chops at the Timbersports world championships in Norway.
Adam Lowe was part of New Zealand’s five-man team, competing against 23 other countries in the elimination format, and coming out on top
‘‘We haven’t won it since 2013,’’ Lowe said.
But the team had a ‘‘good feeling’’ this year.
‘‘We always expect to win, and put a lot of pressure on ourselves, but to win was fantastic.’’
The competition took place at the start of November in Lillehammer, Norway, and followed months of training by the New Zealand team.
‘‘This year we had a lot of help from Stihl New Zealand,’’ Lowe said. ‘‘They helped us with three or four training camps down in Christchurch.’’
Lowe also puts the hours into his own training – he cycles, works out at the gym, and chops a lot of wood.
‘‘For a year I probably do about 30 or 40 tonnes of wood. My neighbours are usually pretty happy because their woodshed’s full and yeah, there is wood everywhere.’’
Lowe is from the West Coast but has been in Nelson for nearly a year. His wood-chopping journey began in Mapua, however, back in 2004.
Since then it’s taken him all over the world, from Germany to Holland, Norway, the United States and Australia, and in his 13 years of competing he’s managed to win 13 world titles. ‘‘It’s going alright,’’ he said. In New Zealand, the sport didn’t have a big following, with just 300-odd competitiors, and he said it needed more people to ensure it didn’t die out.
In Europe and the United States it’s another story. At a competition in Germany around 7000 people turned out to watch.
‘‘The atmosphere amazing,’’ he said.
He loved the feeling of winning and said it was nice to stand on top of the podium at the big world championships.
‘‘But same as any sport, you lose more than you win but the wins are payment for all the hard work and sacrifices you make throughout the years.’’ is pretty
As to the technique at the root of being a champion woodchopper, he said it was all about strength and precision.
‘‘It’s not just hacking at a piece of wood, it’s calculated I guess. I have plans when I walk up to the log as to how many hits I’m going to do it in, depending on wood size and equipment.’’
He said people could make the sport as expensive or as cheap as they like, depending on the investment they made in gear. Lowe has between 30 and 40 axes.
He said people keen on giving Stihl Timbersports a go should just ask around.
‘‘If you see a local chop, ask someone over the fence and if you’re keen to have a crack, we’ll help you out.’’