Scotland's Highland Games first became regular events in the Victorian period. The main event of the games is, to this day, the daunting feat of strength known as the caber toss. A tosser hefts a long wooden log called a caber, which can be up to 20 feet long and weigh 175 pounds.
Cupping one tapered end in his hands and balancing the caber upright against his shoulder, the tosser must run forward and heave it with all his strength to make it flip over and land upright on its opposite end.
2 comment(s):
Well.... not exactly. There are several competitions in the Games, and I don't know that I'd call the caber the "main event," though it may be the most exciting to watch. And the point it decidedly NOT to land the caber upright. It's to through it over one flip, and have it land in as straight a line away from the path of travel during throwing, as possible. The closer to "12-o'clock" the caber points, the better the throw.
Wow, actually that Mashable article is loaded with inaccuracies. It's quite terrible.
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