Legendary High Climber

Danny Sailor was a showman high climber during the same era, One of his stunts was to dance a jig on the top of the pole and then throw his Derby off and beat it to the ground.

During a practice run he flipped his rope over the top of the pole and ended his career abruptly .
 
How come circus and other performers don't require approved safety equipment? I think a second tie in would be required to climb on the top. Of course the lanyard's going to flip off sooner or later.

Most logger sports use peeled poles and I'd imagine they'd be full of old spike marks so a different surface than a green tree. Just in case someone feels like a "hey look at me" moment up there....
 
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One of his stunts was to dance a jig on the top of the pole


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With respect, this doesn't sound like a very good idea.
 
Thanks Chris and zevr,

Now I want the full-length vids, I think my Mom still has a VCR machine stashed away somewhere. My eldest Uncle rigged spars for logging back in the 60's, and once the top came off, the really hard work had just begun, and thus, perhaps, began the rest break on top of the spar.

Those days, my friends, were before the airbag, never mind the padded dashboard, and if our new car had seatbelts we never bothered to find them. Chainbrakes? Bicycle Helmets? No one had heard of them. There were ashtrays in the armrest of your airplane seat, goalies in the National Hockey league faced the puck bare-faced.

It was a different era.

Northwind
 
A forester friend of mine had a sheperd doing stand tending with a replanted mountainside. All the sheep went off a cliff and got helicoptered out ending their careers abruptly as well. Maybe that should of went in the awakenings section.
 
The spars for competition now have guylines pre installed so you won't flip off the top in the heat of combat.

In the "open" spar comp, the competitors climbers have spurs near the toes and have "trombone shanks" that slide so the competitors can get the ankle into the race.

You wouldn't want to stand and work in them, but they are fast. In the open comp, you only have to touch both sides of the spar once on the way down. Old Hap would be proud.

Many comps still have a "traditional spar race" where you have to use proper working gear, but no one is setting a world record in that gear, but the speeds are still amazing.

Haven't heard of anyone playing a game or doing a routine on a spar for decades.

Even Rodeo clowns don't play as hard as they used to, and the NHL goalies now are better than they were...so I'm not saying the old days were better, just that they are gone.

Northwind
 
I checked the net a bit and I've found climbing acts around 08-09 but they had accidents. The only current one I found was Timbrrr the Clown and they didn't have a picture of him on top of a spar. So it could be another part of history.

It was a good show.
 
Steve Bartow is actively performing his clown act.

Steve Bartow - AKA - Arnold The Clown

Here's a video of his son Brian in a pole climbing event at the Evergreen State Fair.

Brian Bartow video of Pole Climb

One misconception is that the pole climber can slide down to the ground. The rules provide that a spur must touch every 15' all the way down. That is the purpose of the horizontal stripes on the poles.

Here's an another article about Steve & my buddy Dennis Butler. I enrolled in his Timber Sports class at Rogue Community College in Grants Pass, Oregon in 1986.
web page
 
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