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Sam Penrod ReportingSome of the country's best lumberjacks, athletes who compete in what's known as IronJack, are in Utah tonight. IronJack combines strength, speed and skill in an exciting, but dangerous sport.
Chopping a log you are standing on in less than 20 seconds, it's just one of the events of what's becoming a popular sport, lumberjacking.
Geno Cummings: "It's not like baseball or football, I mean we're a pretty small group of athletes."
Geno Cummings has been in this sport for 13 years now and says the competition is very intense.
Geno Cummings "We're competing in ten events back to back to back to back, so you have to be pretty lean, very agile quick afoot."
These athletes don't fit the Paul Bunyon image, but say competing in a sport that includes sawing as well as ax throwing can be dangerous.
Geno Cummings: "We protect ourselves as best we can. We wear steel boots, protect our shins from springboard and standing block chops, the climbing is always dangerous."
The crowd favorite is no doubt -- log rolling, in which competitors try to stay on the log while forcing their opponent into the water.
Geno Cummings: "I mean, it's not like riding a horse or riding a bike; it's something you have to put time into, lots of time."
In fact, a couple of spectators proved while our camera was rolling, it's not as easy as it looks.
Geno Cummings: "Somebody's about to get wet, what do you predict, five, three seconds? Are you ready? Go. (splash) How long? 2 ½."
Ironically, the IronJack competition is sponsored by a chain saw company, probably because none of us can saw a log as fast as these guys can.
The IronJack exhibition will continue tomorrow on the Deseret Tower field at BYU from 1:00 until 2:00 and another show from 4:00 until 5:00.
