Is Timbersports The Industry’s Next Big Sport?

Since 1985, the Stihl Timbersports Series has showcased the world’s best lumberjacks competing across sawing and chopping disciplines.

Writer: Tom Ryan

On May 20, more than 1,200 spectators watched Brad De Losa from Australia win the Stihl Timbersports Champions Trophy in Hamburg, Germany.

At the event, touted as the toughest competition in the extreme sport of competitive logging, eight athletes competed in a relay-style race to earn recognition as the world’s fastest lumberjack.

The disciplines: Standing Block (competitors must chop through a vertical block with an axe), Underhand Chop (competitors must chop through a horizontal block with an axe), Stihl Stock Saw (competitors must cut two slices off a log, using a downward motion followed by an upward motion), and Single Buck (competitors slice through a 46cm log using a 2m single man cross-cut saw). Since the activities take place one after the other, the Stihl Timbersports Champions Trophy is regarded as the world’s toughest logger sports competition.

De Losa, who won the trophy in 2014 and 2015, chopped and sawed his way through four wood blocks in a lightning-fast time of 1:02.23. He finished just 0.48 seconds ahead of his rival, Canada’s Stirling Hart. Said De Losa, “It is a great honor for me to win the Champions Trophy – this competition is incredibly hard. I trained a lot before the event, so it’s a great feeling when all that hard work pays off.”

Rounding out the podium in third was Martin Komárek from the Czech Republic. World Champion Jason Wynyard from New Zealand was forced to settle for fourth place. Other competitors in this year’s championship included: Matt Cogar, United States; Christophe Geissler, Switzerland; Roger Gehin, France; and Dirk Braun, Germany.

Before the Champions Trophy, it was the turn of the world’s best logger sports rookies to take to the stage in Hamburg for the Stihl Timbersports Rookie World Championships. Sweden’s Ferry Svan claimed gold ahead of Blake Marsh from Australia and George Williams from Canada. The field also featured athletes from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland and France.

Since 1985, the Stihl Timbersports Series has showcased the world’s best lumberjacks competing across sawing and chopping disciplines. Said Dave Jewett, a professional Timbersports competitor, in a Stihl Timbersports Series’ video, “I would describe timbersports as like hitting a golf ball but put twenty golf balls in a row and try to hit them as fast as you can and put them on the green and you miss you’re going to cut your toe off.”

The Stihl Timbersports series airs throughout the year on the Outdoor Channel and TUFF TV while the Stihl Timbersports Collegiate Series airs on ESPNU. Duluth Trading is the official workwear sponsor of the series.