FIERLJEPPEN

Fierljeppen is a traditional sport of the Frisians and of the Dutch, and one of the more complex athletic sports known to date. Ljeppen is West Frisian for "to leap". It is a fine example of the close relationship between the Frisian and English languages.

The sport involves a long pole and a body of water. The pole is between 8 and 13 m long and has a flat round plate at the bottom to prevent it from sinking into the muddy river or canal bottom.

A jump consists of a sprint to the pole (polsstok), jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top of the pole while trying to control its forward and lateral movements over a body of water, and finishing by landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point.


The sport is believed to have originated with farmers who used poles to leap over small water drainage channels to access different plots of land. In East Frisia this sport is known as Pultstock-Jumping. Today the sport is primarily practiced for fun or to entertain tourists, but there still is an official annual National Fierljepping Manifestation (NFM) in the Netherlands, and championships are contested in six leagues and numerous clubs.

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[Hollandia777]

@HammerStroke93

Actually there 2 important things - ur speed and the level u catch this pole at. If these 2 are OK the rest is of second range importance and u can reach the other side. (Of course 1 ought to have strong hands in order not to fall in the water!) xDD

[slackdave]

Looks like good hard fun.

[HammerStroke93]

Seems to be quite the test of speed,timing, and strength. The girl with the black hair really had it down. Some of the others seemed to have started climbing to early instead of getting the pole going first.