I’m a lumber jack and I’m OK!
Axes ready – you’ll have a wild time joining in with the woodland warriors
REVERED for their strength, work ethic and resilience — as well as those plaid shirts and lustrous beards — lumberjacks are sharpening their axes to show off their skills. Here are five of the best lumberjack-inspired adventures.
FESTIVAL VIBES
ONE of the largest international lumberjack gatherings takes place every July at the Lumberjack Bowl in Hayward, Wisconsin. Expect live music, food trucks, lumberjack games and 24 pro events, including axe throwing, chainsawing, log rolling, and scaling 90 ft cedar poles before hurtling back to earth. HOW: Three hours’ drive from Minneapolis. July 28 to 30, 2022, £18 adults, £11 children (lumber jackworldchampionships.com).
SPORTING CHANCE
PAULA DEEN’S Lumberjack Feud Show & Adventure Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is near Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s amusement park in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Watch champions chopping, sawing, climbing and log rolling in the show, and then try timber sports yourself at the adventure park. HOW: An easy drive from Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte. Prices for show: £26 adults and £11 child; adventure park, £29 and £26 (lumberjackfeud.com).
CHOP, CHOP
THE art of axe throwing has made it out of the woods and into bars and arenas. Head to an urban Kick Axe Throwing bar (kickaxe.com) in Washington DC, Brooklyn or Philadelphia, or book a lesson with one of the ‘axe-perts’ at The Deep Creek Axe Throwing Co near Deep Creek Lake in nearby Maryland. HOW: Deep Creek Lake is a threehour drive from Washington D.C. An ‘Axpert’ Session (1.5 hours to 3.5 hours) includes 30 minutes of instruction and costs £26pp. Minimum age is eight (dcladventures.com).
EXTREME ACTION
WOOD-CHOPPING has come a long way since the first competition
took place between two woodsmen in Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia, in 1870. The Stihl Timbersports championships has propelled this tradition on to a global stage. Athletes, teams and rookies compete in extreme chopping contests. More than 70 contestants will battle it out to qualify for the U.S. Stihl Timbersports Championship in summer 2022. HOW: Venue, dates and tickets for the U.S. Stihl Timbersports Championship 2022 will be released soon at stihlusa.com/stihl-timbersports.
WILD ADVENTURE
LIVE out your wildest lumberjack dreams in one of the world’s rarest and most biodiverse ecosystems, the Olympic National Park in Washington state.
You will be awed by glaciercapped mountains, the rugged coastline and some of the oldest and largest trees on Earth. With 16 campsites, miles of hiking and biking trails and rivers and lakes to canoe, it’s another world entirely. HOW: Olympic National Park is a two-hour drive from Seattle. Prices £22 per vehicle; £11 per person. Open year-round (nps. gov/olym).
■ Lumberjack: adventure Is calling — The History, The Lore, The Life by Lauren jarvis is out now published by ammonite Press, £9.99.