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PACKWOOD, Washington — You can become an expert in a surprising array of skills and knowledge, from Dungeons and Dragons to stock car racing to rocket science.
Scott Augur of Randle, Washington, is an expert in felling trees. And this video is indisputable proof of that fact.
Augur’s recent task was to fell a 100-foot fir tree in Packwood, Washington, between two outbuildings with only 5 inches to spare on either side of it.
But with any task of this kind, the planning and preparation is where the real hard work comes in. That and being lucky that the tree grew in a practically perfect way to predict how it would react to the laws of physics.
“I walked around this thing with a plumb bob. I got back at various angles and looked at it. There was no limb weight to one side or the other,” Augur told Tulsa’s KJRH. “It was just, if you were going to try to shoot a tree between two buildings with five inches of clearance on both sides, this would be the tree to use.”
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A 9-year-old determined to learn how to do a 540 skateboard trick succeeded with a squeal.You can’t help but feel the relief that Augur conveys in his celebratory reaction when the tree lands exactly where he wants it.
Watching the tree flawlessly fall between the two buildings feels like witnessing a miracle. In fact, you may not believe your eyes and may need to watch the fall repeatedly to see if you can suss out any trick filming or editing.
Skip forward to the 1:10 mark if you want to see the feat without watching some of the preparation.
