Community
7 May, 2026
Woodchop challenge draws a crowd
THE Mount Shadwell Hotel was packed to capacity when the Western Victorian Axemen’s Association (WVAA) brought a skilled field of competitors to town on Saturday.
A crowd well in excess of 100 lined the hotel’s outdoor area for an up-close look at the talent which has seen the WVAA become Victoria’s oldest axemen’s association.
WVAA president Scott Anderson said the decision to bring the Woodchop Challenge to Mortlake, the first time in the history of the event, had proven a resounding success thanks to a strong showing of support from attendees.
“It was a huge success for the first time we’ve held the event in Mortlake,” he said.
“We got a good crowd and the weather fortunately held off, so everyone stuck around throughout the whole day.
“I think it worked well for the pub too because they had a lot of people through for meals on the night.”
Mr Anderson said the decision to bring the event to Mortlake was made in collaboration with Mount Shadwell Hotel owners Craig and Liz Fowler.
“We ran a similar event at Torquay for the past two years at the end of June, and it’s been something we wished we could have two or three rounds of the same event to make it a bit of a series,” he said.
“It works well at those sorts of venues, and the Mount Shadwell Hotel had expressed an interest in hosting an event like that, so we got that off the ground this year.”
Mrs Fowler said she and her husband had coincidently thought up the idea to invite the WVAA along based off separate conversations.
“I used to work at the saleyards so I was talking to an agent who is heavily involved in woodchop, just casually talking and saying how unreal it would be to get it here,” she said.
“My husband used to work at Corangamite Shire Council with this guy’s wife and they were talking about it separately.
“We both said it would be cool to have something like that in Mortlake, so our idea just came from word of mouth after hearing from this guy about how his children were getting involved.
“We’ve both watched it on television – it’s exciting, different and something we thought would be great to bring to town.”
Mrs Fowler said she couldn’t have been happier with how the event ran.
“We were rapt with the response from the community,” she said.
“It has a big following locally and around the state, so we thought it was fantastic.
“There were quite a lot of things competing for people’s attention, with the Koroit Irish Festival and lots of locals going up to the Lake Goldsmith Steam and Vintage Rally, so with all things considered we were stoked with the turnout.
“It was something different for Mortlake.”
Mr Anderson said bringing the event to a new community was exciting, but the WVAA was limited in its ability to expand to new areas due to critical shortages of timber supply.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, due to the lack of timber available, it’s hard to take on more,” he said.
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