The Stones of Sheriffmuir
Days are finally getting longer, and we're starting to see the first signs of spring here in the UK - which is great news for people not fond of the winter like me. It's also great for stonelifters now that conditions are getting slightly better outdoors. Although, I saw some extremely muddy stonelifting recently, so maybe I'm speaking too soon.
There's a lot to talk about this month, so let's dive in!
Here's your list of topics for this month. Feel free to jump around to the ones that interest you most:
- New guest article: The Sheriffmuir Stones
- Martins Licis takes on Basque stonelifting
- Utah Stones of Strength documentary
- Competition preview: Arnold Strongman Classic
- Replica Dinnie stones at the Rogue Record Breakers
- liftingstones.org is three years old!
New guest article: The Sheriffmuir Stones
Back in December, Jamie Gorrian wrote his story of rediscovering the Monachyle stone as the first ever guest article on the site - and it was a fantastic success!
This month, Jamie is back to tell his story about the Sheriffmuir stones and how he revived stonelifting on the ancient site that was once the home of the 125kg Wallace Putting Stone.
Jamie has put together a fantastic set of stones on the site, perfect for anyone to lift - whether you're new to stonelifting or a world-class strongman. And it's all tied together with the site's ancient history and stonelifting heritage.
One of the highlights of Jamie's recent articles is the amount of photos he shares. Jamie's guest article is now live on the site! If you like it, let him know and give him a follow on Instagram if you haven't already.
Martins Licis takes on Basque stonelifting
Martins Licis - the 2019 World's Strongest Man - went to Basque country to learn about the Basque style of stonelifting from some of the great Basque lifters. He then took part in a Basque stonelifting competition alongside Urdax Magunazelaia - the Basque champion.
There was a great stream of the competition, showing off different categories of stones and lifters. There was a nice crowd too. Martins successfully lifted the 225kg (495lbs) stone and shouldered the 252kg (555lbs) - with a little assistance from Urdax.
Martins has been highlighting and documenting people from different countries and cultures as part of his popular Strength Unknown series on YouTube. And it looks like his adventures in Basque country will be his next subject. I'm looking forward to watching it!
If you haven't seen Levantadores (Rogue's documentary on Basque stonelifting), you definitely should!
Utah Stones of Strength Documentary
Just a few weeks ago, the Utah Stones of Strength documentary made its way on to YouTube - now available to watch for free!
If you don't already know about it, the film was originally released on Vimeo's video on demand service to rent or buy back in 2021. It's a fantastic 30 minute film showcasing the stones that Ryan Stewart put together in Utah - inspired by the historic stones he's lifted across the world.
The film focuses on a couple of climbers who attempt a few of the stones, and eventually, the Chinese arch challenge. The Chinese arch is a stone carry inspired by Iceland's Húsafell stone using a lighter stone. But that doesn't make it an easy feat; the walk includes a steep incline under the natural archway.
If you haven't yet seen the documentary, there's no better time!
Competition preview: Arnold Strongman Classic
For Brits like me, Britain's Strongest Man is the start of the the Strongman season. But Britain's Strongest Man is like an appetizer leading up to the first huge international strongman show of the year: The Arnold Strongman Classic. And it's this weekend! I'm excited to say the least.
Obviously, I'm most excited about the Unspunnen Stone Throw event on Saturday. If you missed it last month, I wrote a huge article about the Unspunnen stone and its storied history that you can read before the show.
Not everyone is as excited as I am though. I've seen a bunch of comments online about the Unspunnen stone throw saying it's a "bad event", "not a good test of strength", "not interesting", etc.
It's funny because I've also heard strongman fans complain about seeing the same events over and over again in comps and that they want variety. Now that they get a new event, it's not the right one!
Ultimately, I think the reason people are unsure about the Unspunnen Stone Throw is due to its unpredictability and uniqueness. If your favourite strongman loses by a couple of points because they dropped them on the stone throw, you're understandably going to be disappointed. "He would have won if they had Stone to Shoulder!", but that's strongman.
The Unspunnen Stone Throw isn't some random event cooked up by the organizers either. It's an event that dates back over 200 years and has truly ancient roots. I hope people get excited for it once the event starts.
I for one think that ballistic events (like throws for height or a keg series) are fantastic to watch. They demonstrate an athlete's power and strength, and they're less taxing compared to another super heavy lift (which is super important on the final day of competition). So it's good for athletes too.
For the men, it's difficult to predict a winner for the stone throw. Tom Stoltman has the height, wingspan, and power to hit a huge distance. But I could equally see Mateusz Kieliszkowski, Mitchell Hooper, or Pavlo Nakonechnyy making monstrous throws too. And I think that is why I'm so excited for this event - it's so unpredictable, and there's so much at stake. As the penultimate event of the competition, everyone will be looking it pick up (and avoid losing) any points.
We even get to see the strongwomen throwing a 50kg stone too! I'm not going to try and predict the women's results here, but the women's lineup is stacked. The women's events are immediately before the men's, which is fantastic. Hopefully it draws more eyes to the women's side of the sport.
You can view the full event schedule here, and as always, you can watch the competition live on Rogue's YouTube channel.
Day 1 livestream
Day 2 livestream
Replica Dinnie Stones at Rogue Record Breakers
Rogue's Record Breaker events are always a fun way to end the weekend of Strongman at the Arnold. And the Replica Dinnie Stones are now a staple.
Last year, we saw Kevin Faires setting the Replica Dinnie Stone walk record (7.85m / 25' 8"). And who could forget Chloe Brennan's insane lift that went viral?
Kevin will be competing in the Arnold Strongman Classic, meaning he'll probably be a bit beaten up from the competition to put forward a record-breaking performance on the stone walk. But I wouldn't count him out.
The Women's hold for time is back too! And it looks like Gabi Dixon may attempt the record. Gabi impressed a ton last year when she did held a Hercules Hold for over a minute at the Giants Live World's Strongest Nation - so I'm looking forward to see how she performs here.
Rogue's website also lists a tacky-free Atlas stone over bar event - so I'll keep my eye out for that too!
Just like the ASC, the Rogue Record Breaker events will be streamed live on Rogue's YouTube channel.
liftingstones.org is three years old!
Back in December - as I wrote the liftingstones.org 2022 year in review - I looked at some old versions of the website for a screenshot or two to show the differences in design.
Whilst I was going back in time, I looked at the first version of the website to see how far it had come (a long way!). I also discovered that I originally published the site in February 2020 - meaning the site turned three years old this month!
I don't know where I was going with this. There were no celebrations or anything like that - it's just a cool milestone. Maybe I'll do something for the 5th anniversary in a couple of years?
No matter how long you've been following the site, thanks again for your support!
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