Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 19, 2009--The greasy-pole climbing contest is a traditional part of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese and Tamil celebrations marking the start of the new year.

Teams of men vie to scale the 30-foot (8-meter) pole and grab a flag atop it.

This year's winning team won 5,000 rupees ($43 U.S.) for climbing the greased-up pole, clocking in at six hours, three minutes to capture the flag.