Loggersports




The sport of Loggersports grew out of competitions in lumber camps aimed at determining the best woodcutters. Today, these competitions are used to acknowledge the rich history of forestry and logging and to keep traditions alive.

STIHL Timbersports Series - Worldwide

The STIHL Timbersports Series was founded in 1985, and brings competitors from across the world to compete in six woodsman or wood chopping competitions. The events are broadcast worldwide on a variety of networks, including ESPN, ABC, and Eurosport.

Squamish Days Loggers Sports - Canada

In Canada, Squamish Days Loggers Sports in Squamish, British Columbia, attracts the finest competitors to its weekend festival in August each year. The event has entertainers such as Johnny Cash, who, in 1991, performed at the 5,000-seat Loggers Sports grounds during his Roadshow tour.

The Woodsmen's Days - New York, United States

The Woodsmen's Days events at Tupper Lake, New York commemorate the lumberjack with logging competitions and demonstrations during mid-July. Many colleges have woodsmen teams or forestry clubs who compete regionally, nationally, and internationally. The Association of Southern Forestry Clubs, for example, sponsors an annual Forestry Conclave with 250 contestants and a variety of events.

Lumberjack Tours - United States

There are also lumberjack shows which tour the United States, demonstrating traditional logging practices to the general public. The annual Lumberjack World Championships have been held in Hayward, Wisconsin since 1960. Over 12,000 visitors come to the event each year in late July to watch men and women compete in 21 different events, including log rolling, chopping, timed hot (power) and bucksaw cutting, and tree climbing.

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Evolution

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Tie Hacking edit A specialty form of logging involving the felling of trees for the production of railroad ties was known as tie hacking. These lumberjacks, called tie hacks, used saws to fell trees and cut to length, and a broad-axe to flatten two or all four sides of the log to create railroad ties. Later, portable saw mills were used to cut and shape ties. Tie hacking was an important form of logging in Wyoming and northern Colorado and the remains of tie hacking camps can be found on National Forest land. The remains of flumes can be seen near Dubois, Wyoming, and Old Roach, Colorado. In addition, a decaying splash dam exists near the Old Roach site as well. There, tie hacks attempted to float logs down to the Laramie River for the annual spring tie drives, and the splash dam was used to collect winter snow-melt to increase the water flow for the tie drive. Modern technology edit Modern technology changed the job of the modern logger considerably. Although the basic task of harvest
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History

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Lifestyle edit Lumberjacks worked in lumber camps and often lived a migratory life, following timber harvesting jobs as they opened. Being a lumberjack was seasonal work. Lumberjacks were exclusively men. They usually lived in bunkhouses or tents. Common equipment included the axe and cross-cut saw. Lumberjacks could be found wherever there were vast forests to be harvested and a demand for wood, most likely in Scandinavia, Canada, and parts of the United States. In the U.S., many lumberjacks were of Scandinavian ancestry, continuing the family tradition. American lumberjacks were first centred in north-eastern states such as Maine. They then followed the general westward migration on the continent to the Upper Midwest, and finally the Pacific Northwest. Stewart Holbrook documented the emergence and westward migration of the classic American lumberjack in his first book, Holy Old Mackinaw: A Natural History of the American Lumberjack . He often wrote colourfully about lumberjacks in hi
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Culture

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Tomczik (2008) has investigated the lifestyle of lumberjacks from 1840 to 1940, using records from mostly Maine and Minnesota logging camps. In a period of industrial development and modernization in urban areas, logging remained a traditional business in which the workers exhibited pride in their craft, their physical strength and masculinity, and guarded their individualism. Their camps were a bastion of the traditional workplace as they defied modern rationalized management, and built a culture around masculinity. At the peak in 1906 there were 500,000 lumberjacks, who took special pride in their work. Logging camps were located in isolated areas that provided room and board as well as a workplace. With few females present other than the wives of cooks and foremen, lumberjacks lived an independent life style that emphasized manly virtues in doing dangerous tasks. Men earned praise for their skills in doing their work, for being competitive, and for being aggressive. When not at work
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