“Lauren the Lumberjill,” Flathead Woman Sets New World Record

"Kalispell resident Lauren Bergman set a new WORLD RECORD in the Standing Block Chop at the Stihl Timbersports 2025 U.S. Women's Pro Championship!" That was the big news shared by KDBR, 106.3 The Bear, in Kalispell last week.

(Check out the video below)

Thanks to our friends at KJJR Radio and Bee Broadcasting, we got the chance to meet "Lauren the Lumberjill" in person last week in Kalispell.

We talked about her work as a professional lumberjack athlete and how it all began at Flathead Valley Community College. She and her husband, also a lumberjack, compete in chopping and sawing events. 26 seconds...that's how fast she was when she set the new world record in the standing block chop, surpassing the previous record by four seconds and her personal best by six seconds. Her husband is an arborist, and they both work in the timber industry. I likened their work in the sport to a "ranch rodeo" for arborists.

Aaron Flint: "So what was this world record you just set because it looks like there's a log set up on a pedestal, and then you've got your axe, and it's you and another gal, and you both start swinging away, and whoever chops it over first basically wins."

Lauren "The Lumberjill" Bergman: "Yeah, it's a vertical block, and they're all 10 inches in diameter and about 30 inches long. And we just try to chop the block as fast as we can. We chop through half of the block, and then we turn around and chop the other half of the block, and the fastest time wins."

Lauren "The Lumberjill" Bergman: "I never really focus about like what's happening until the blocks done. But as soon as the block was done, I turned around and I saw the time, and I knew that it was a world record."

Erik Maldonado: "What was the prior record?"

Lauren "The Lumberjill" Bergman: It was 30 seconds

Erik Maldonado: "So you beat it by four seconds?"

Lauren "The Lumberjill" Bergman: "Yeah. And my personal best before that was 32 seconds. So I bested my personal best by six seconds, which was a pretty big jump.

Full audio and video are below.

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