U.S. students grind axes with Canadian counterparts

January 21, 2004 - Who says you can't have brains and brawn? More than 250 students from across New England and Eastern Canada and will battle it out on January 31 during the 50th annual Canadian Intercollegiate Lumberjack Championships at the Macdonald Campus of McGill University.

The students will demonstrate that they have more than just high IQs. For nearly eight hours, in freezing temperatures, these athletes will grab their axes and saws to compete in an array of timbersports: the axe throw, the standing block chop, log decking and the cross-cut saw. Wood chips will fly, logs will roll, and lumberjacks and lumberjills will most likely leave with some scrapes and bruises.

It may seem unusual, but timbersports are quickly gaining popularity among college students across North America. What began as a friendly competition between McGill's downtown and West Island campuses nearly 50 years ago has turned into an international event with more than 40 U.S. and Canadian schools participating.

"Students are attracted to woodsmen sports because it is different, it's not soccer or lacrosse, and it's not something that everyone can do," says John Watson, who coaches the Macdonald team and whose father helped start the competition at the Macdonald Campus in 1954.

"I didn't know how to chop a piece of wood before joining the woodsmen team," said Hugues Fillion, a senior at Macdonald and captain of the men's team. "Now I use all my spare time to practice, running into the bush to chop wood. My parents think I am crazy, but I love it."

The popularity of timbersports extends beyond the collegiate level as well: lumberjacking is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. In Australia, where the sport has an almost fanatical following, professional lumberjack athletes can make up to $175,000 annually. The sport has come a long way since it was first conceived back in the 19th century when men at logging camps would compete to see who was the toughest beaver.

The Canadian Intercollegiate Lumberjack Championships are January 31, from 8 am to 4 pm, at Watson Field, at McGill's Macdonald Campus, 21,111 Lakeshore Rd., Ste-Anne-De-Bellevue. Admission and parking are free. Everyone is welcome.