Oh, and the pole was covered with a thick layer of grease.

Skiff is the anchor man for Team Dozer, and as a semi-torrential rain began to fall, he found himself face to face with the pole. It’s a position he’s been in for the past 10 years, and each of those years, Team Dozer has walked away with the championship.

“I’d love to tell you there’s some grand scheme,” Skiff laughed, adding that his team doesn’t practice or do any sort of specialized training. Yet when the announcer said go, four more guys climbed up Skiff’s back and rang the bell at the top of the pole in about 10 seconds.

Skiff said he started the pole climb when he was younger, and his family team won five or six championships back then. When his dad decided to step down as the bottom man, the team took a break for a few years. Then Skiff’s crew came back in force and has become the team to beat each year.

Rick Skiff of Tupper Lake hugs a greased pole tightly before his team goes on to win the pole climbing competition for the 10th straight year. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

In addition to the vaunted pole climb, the Woodsmen’s Days, which has been going on for decades, also offers no shortage of entertainment those who may be scared of heights, or, more likely, don’t want to get their clothes covered in Crisco.

From chainsaw demonstrations and stunt motorcycles to auctions and the tug of war, the event allows loggers and non-loggers alike the chance to get outside and have some fun.

Dozens of people teamed up for the tug of war, which saw four women’s and four men’s teams battle it out in the soaked clay of the town softball diamond. The Rope Burn women’s team won for the sixth straight year, but lost to the men’s Team No Name in a final battle royal.

Neilson Snye, treasurer for the Woodsmen’s board, said this year’s event looked much better than last year’s, which saw torrential rain and flooding for the whole of the event.

“We haven’t run the numbers yet,” Snye said on Saturday while awaiting his turn at the tug of war, “but from what I’ve been told, it’s a lot better.”

“We did the stunt bike; that was new. The layout is definitely new (as) we stayed out of the municipal ball field except for the night games.”

Snye also said the wood carvers’ auction, which runs twice on Saturday and once on Sunday, is always a big draw, with proceeds split evenly between the event and the carvers. Dozens of people lined up on the bleachers and bid on wooden bears, benches with eagles carved into the side and little cowboy hats.

Overall, Snye said the event has seen a slight decline over the years, but he attributed that to both a lack of volunteers and the downturn in the economy about 10 years ago. He added that there may be a dearth of volunteers, but the event is helped immensely by local sponsors, vendors, local and traveling loggers, and the Tupper Lake town and village workers. All of those people also march or have floats in the parade that kicked off Saturday’s festivities.

“I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “I think the night games are a big draw, but everyone has their own interests. The chainsaw carvings, the auctions — those guys are professionals. That’s a big draw.”

Craig Benjamin, a logger based in the Catskills, said he and his wife prefer the Woodsmen’s Days to other similar events, and came to the area earlier in the week to camp at the Blue Jay campground just south of Tupper Lake.

“It’s a much better show for your family,” Benjamin said. “I’ve been coming up here a long time because you got the lake and everything.”