The Mountain-Ear
The voice of the Peak to Peak
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| Hoyl wins second world championship |
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| Written by administrator | |
| Wednesday, 04 November 2009 | |
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Barbara Lawlor ROLLINSVILLE Reigning champions of anything have to live with the angst of wondering if they can hold onto their crown, come up with a repeat performance. Emmit Hoyl can stop worrying. Last weekend the Rollinsville blacksmith defended his world championship performance of last year, coming in First and coming up with a personal best in the hand-drilling contest in Carson City, Nevada. Hoyl is a local competitor who grew up attending Nederland schools, went to England to learn the blacksmith trade and set up his own business at Los Lagos Ranch. He has made a name for himself forging the hammers that pound on the steel in the hand-drilling contests. He also creates works of art. In the summer, Hoyl travels to mining contest events all over the west, with the intent of making it to Carson City and the world championships. Last week, he flew to Reno, Nevada after the early October snowstorm moved out of the area. After a year of waiting for the opportunity to defend his title, Hoyl discovered he would have wait some more. It is tradition for last year’s champions to go last in the competition. “I got there early, then had to grit my teeth for hours and hours,” says Hoyl ruefully. “The worst part is standing around and waiting. I had to work at calming my nerves.” There were 18 drillers ahead of Hoyl. When he was finally to position his steel marking the entry point and was given the signal to start, he gave it everything he had. A hand driller has to pound the steel with a four and a half pound hammer into granite rock for 10 minutes. One of the judges counted Hoyl’s strokes and determined he was hitting the steel 85 times every minute; 850 strokes in 10 minutes. Yes, it is painful, says Hoyl. Lactic acid builds up in the forearm causing cramps. As the steel bits dig deeper and deeper into the rock, they need to be exchanged for longer bits. When it’s time to switch out the steels, there is an opportunity -- a short one -- for the driller to pump his hand a few times and break the cramp. Hand drilling can be a bloody sport. Sometimes the hammer hits the edge of the steel and slips onto the thumb and forefinger of the hand holding the bit. Often competitors walk away with bruises and bleeding thumb joints. Hoyl says he didn’t miss once and was relatively unscathed. Some of the more novice drillers walked away with nasty wounds. It is a tradition that top five contest placers remain on the rock and finish a bottle of whiskey before they can get down. Cheap whiskey says Hoyl, who was the only contender from Colorado. “But one of the reasons I like competing is that this is a friendly competition. Many of the competitors are getting older and I’m just getting into my prime. But I’m proud to say I defended the title for Colorado.” |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 November 2009 ) |
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