STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship: Advance Ticket Sales for Lumberjack Sports Event Have Started

For the first time, the world’s timberjack sports elite will flock to Switzerland: The Fifth Annual STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship will be held on 13 September in Brienz within the scope of the Brienz Lumberjack Days. Eighteen athletes will match ax and chain saw handling skills in a total of six disciplines, according to the maxim: Power decides, precision wins. This major event will be framed by an appealing entertainment program for young and old. Tickets are available through the Haslital Tourism Board effective immediately.

The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® SERIES was brought to life as a championship series in the USA almost 25 years ago. It has since established itself as the elite division of lumberjack sports with numerous competitions at the national and international level. The first world championship was held in Virginia Beach/USA in 2005 and now, four years later, the world’s best sports lumberjacks will go head to head in Switzerland for the first time: The 2009 STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship will be held at Brienz in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland on 13 September. Effective immediately, fans and enthusiasts can obtain tickets for this major sporting event through the Haslital Tourism Board.

Appealing fringe events for the entire family

Tickets are available directly from the Haslital Tourism Board’s tourist office in Meiringen or on the Internet at www.haslital.ch/en/page.cfm/TimbersportTicket. Tickets for the World Championship on Sunday, 13 September cost CHF 15 for adults and CHF 6 for children and youngsters under 16 years of age. In the run-up to the world championship, the Brienz Lumberjack Days will be held already on 11 and 12 September. Here, experienced athletes will go head to head, but other interested persons can also get a taste of the competition and try their hand at this sport. Admission on Saturday is CHF 8 for adults and CHF 4 for 16- to 18-year-olds, children are admitted for free. Besides lumberjack sports competitions at a high level of technology and athleticism, spectators can look forward to a whole weekend of equally exciting and appealing fringe events that have also been planned with children in mind.

Feats of athletic prowess

The sports lumberjacks set to gather in Brienz for the world championship come from 18 different countries and three continents. They will demonstrate their rightful claim to membership in the world elite of their sport with outstanding athleticism and polished technique. In the end, besides the participants’ athletic prerequisites, factors such as skill and precision in handling the ax and chain saw will determine who returns home with a medal

About the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® SERIES

The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® SERIES is an international series of competitions in lumberjack sports. It originated in Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. In order to determine the best of their profession, lumberjacks there have held local competitions in lumberjacking for a long time now. Over time, these tests of strength and skill evolved into professional competitions at a high athletic level. In the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® SERIES, athletes compete in three ax and three saw disciplines. The springboard, underhand chop and standing block chop belong to the classic ax disciplines; in the single buck (manual cross-cut saw), Stihl stock saw (ordinary chain saw) and hot saw (62-HP, tuned chain saw) disciplines, the athletes use saws to vie for the best times. The series of competitions also enjoys a growing following in Europe. Moreover, TV coverage on the Eurosport network documents the increasing media interest in these “battles of the titans” and is further boosting name recognition.