When Kat Spencer was enrolled as a forestry student at the University of New Brunswick, she joined a college club that offered wood chopping experiences and competitive logger training. It's not the typical sport women choose. Not even close. The Smokey Lake resident stands at a petite five-foot-four and barely cracks 110 pounds.
When Kat Spencer was enrolled as a forestry student at the University of New Brunswick, she joined a college club that offered wood chopping experiences and competitive logger training.
It's not the typical sport women choose. Not even close. The Smokey Lake resident stands at a petite five-foot-four and barely cracks 110 pounds.
“It's about getting back to basics and having fun,” Spencer says.
The Bunyan-esque sport is now part of her DNA and Spencer can swing an axe along with her beefier male counterparts.
In fact, she's a champion speed climber. That's where a competitor climbs a 60 to 80-foot pole and quickly drops to the ground as quickly as possible.
As a professional “lumberjill,” Spencer has partnered with the Morinville Festival Society to organize the town's inaugural International Logger's Competition on Father's Day.
Held at Ray McDonald Sports Arena, the 15 events running throughout Sunday are about watching and cheering adrenalin-charged loggers handle super powered saws spewing woodchips and dust.
“It's just trending now. It's becoming popular again in urban populations. It's basic to do and you feel tough. You feel the zeal of steel swinging through the air,” laughs Spencer. She plans on opening The Axe Hole in July, an indoor axe throwing facility in Edmonton.
The day is stacked with 15 timberland events including an axe throw, underhand chop (chop through a horizontal log), single buck (saw through a log), standing block chop (chop through a vertical log) and spring board (combines chopping and climbing) to name a few.
Approximately 25 top-notch rugged men and women from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Idaho, Montana and Maine are game to chop and saw.
Two high-profile competitors are Stirling Hart of Maple Ridge, B.C., who won the 2014 STIHL Timbersports Canadian Male Championship. Grande Prairie's Danielle Tkach, also chopped her way to fame as the first female to win the STIHL Timbersports Canadian Female Championship.
“I'm so excited. These are guys you normally see on television and they're coming here. If you're into any of these championships this is really the cat's cream,” said Korien Sampson, a festival society committee member that has worked closely with Spencer.
While an athlete's strength and speed is never in doubt, Spencer continues to remain in awe of the sport's history.
“When you watch events like this, you're getting history in action and you can develop an appreciation for our forefathers. That's how they cleared the land and built homes – through these very skills.”
