Timbersports keeps traditional forestry skills alive
June 26, 2014 3:45 pm Leave your thoughts
This past weekend, I had the honor of volunteering as a timekeeper at the Stihl Timbersports Series Western Qualifier, held in Fort Saskatchewan, just outside of Edmonton. Timbersports is not hugely popular in Alberta (they are more of an East coast thing), so it was pretty exciting to be able to help out at such an important event. For those that don’t know, Timbersports is the lumberjack (and lumberjill) equivalent of the Olympics. The event has athletes competing against each other in a variety of challenges, including the springboard chop, the underhand chop, a standing log chop, a single-buck saw, a stock chainsaw cut, and a hot saw cut. The hot saw cut involved the use of custom built chainsaws with engines up to 350 cubic centimeters in size, often from old motorcycles.
All of these events just seemed to blow by, taking much longer to set up than to actually complete. Some of the times for the events were so quick that, if I hadn’t been there watching and timing them myself, I would have a hard time believing they had happened. One of the events that most impressed me was the single-buck saw, where competitors saw through a log (I believe it was 16 inches in diameter). The top athletes are able to complete this event in less than 16 seconds, and almost all of them were able to finish before the 30 second mark. I have tried using these saws before, and it’s much harder than it looks. I and a partner operated a buck saw on a 12 inch diameter log, and we were able to saw our way through in about 45 seconds (after a lot of practice). That’s nowhere near the 16 seconds it takes a professional to do it, and they’re doing it by themselves on a significantly larger log.
The athletes participating in this Timbersports competition have to participate in each event, getting points based on how well they place in each one. At the end of the day, whoever has the most points gets to go to the Canada-wide Timbersports competition, pitting the East vs. the West. The winners of that cross-Canada challenge move on to represent Canada at the world series Timbersport competitions. Four men, one woman and one junior athlete will be representing the West in Toronto. Only one woman is going, as this is the first year of having a lumberjill category for the Stihl Timbersports Series. I’m sure in the next few years, however, many more Canadian women will become involved in the sport, leading to a greater female presence at higher level competitions.
Competitors in the springboard chop make their way up a log by securing planks into crevices they have chopped into the log, and then chop through the top section of the log. Not for the faint of heart!
Timbersports are starting to become a big thing in Canada, and I can’t recommend enough getting involved, whether by competing, volunteering or just coming out and watching. For more information, visit the Timbersports website: http://en.stihl.ca/stihl-timbersports.aspx.