FVCC logger sports team gears up for competitions

Katie Haas wraps both hands around the handle of an ax and hefts the tool dubbed “Crook” over her head. She stares down the target, a slice of log painted with alternating rings of blue and yellow, before hurling the ax over her head. It rotates rapidly through the air and sticks with a thwack in the face of the log, a little low, but aligned well with the heart of the target.

Haas retrieves the tool and prepares to throw again.

And again.

And again.

The first competition for the Flathead Valley Community College Logger Sports Team is quickly approaching. The Western Collegiate Logging Sports Championships is both the season kick-off and the year’s largest event, with around a dozen schools slated to compete in more than 10 timber-sports. Flathead Valley competitors will travel to California Polytechnic State University to test their skills March 26-30.

FVCC is one of just a handful of two-year schools stepping up to the plate, but they’re a force to be reckoned with. Last year, they placed second at the championships and took first place five years running in the 1990s. The relatively small community school was also the first two-year college to win it all back in 1988.

The team got its start in 1972 thanks to father and son founders Hugh and Eyler Adams, who both competed in professional logger sports. When Hugh discovered that FVCC lacked a team, he wondered why in northwest Montana, of all places, the sport wasn’t represented.

“He got it started and I helped him whenever I could,” Eyler said.

Hugh passed away in 1986, but Eyler and coaches Bob and Annie Beall have helped carry Hugh’s high standards forward to the next generation.

The team trains north of the FVCC main campus in a arched shop off Hutton Ranch Road. They’ll saw or chop indoors, and head outside to throw axes or climb one of four towering poles that range from 30 to 50 feet high.

Although the training yard appears like an adults playground, the team members are serious about their craft. Team captain Amber Larsen said the team practices at least three times a week and as many as five times when competitions draw near. Logger sports is offered as a one-credit class and begins in the fall.

There are individual sawing events — the ax throw, pole climb and horizontal chop, among others — as well as partner sawing like the Jack and Jill, which pits mixed-gendered pairs against each other. Each athlete will compete in five to six events, depending on the tournament. Larsen’s personal favorites are the pole climb and burling, where two competitors battle to stay atop a log floating in water.

No matter the event, technique is key.

“For me it’s just having really good form and knowing where my angle’s at and having really good rhythm with your partner is really important,” she said. “We chose our partners a few weeks ago and we base it on who you mesh well with, who you can glide well with when you’re sawing. It’s a constant motion — you should never be stopping — so you have to blend well with your partner.”

Haas, a nursing student, enjoys the thrill of pole climbing. In the pole event, two climbers scale large poles side by side using special climbing spikes that sit on the inside of the foot. For women, the goal is to reach 30 feet, while men go for the 50-foot mark.

“A lot of folks will tell you, if you can climb under 10 seconds you’re a pretty good climber — guys and gals,” Larsen noted.

“I like climbing, but it’s scary,” Haas said. “I think that’s why I like it, because you can fall. Last week I fell and scratched my stomach — it was only about 2 or 3 feet, but I was lazy and didn’t catch myself. But I learned. I’m not going to do it again.”

Logger sports isn’t just about the competition — athletes join the team for the culture and camaraderie. Logger sports come with their own vernacular and customs. For example, every saw and ax has a name.

“There’s one called ‘Head Hunter’ that somebody was cutting with and the head of the ax flew off,” she said.

The flying blade struck the user in the head, but luckily not with the sharp edges.

“They were fine,” she said.

“There’s such a camaraderie and you have to get in it,” Haas explained. “You have to know the jokes, and that takes about a month.

“You definitely have to have grit and you have to know that there’s a certain amount of, ‘you’re tough and you’re going to prove it.’”

Locals can see just how tough the team is on April 21 when they compete at their home meet, Stumpjumper Days, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the FVCC logger sports arena.

“This is a sport based on traditional logging practices and back in the day, after their winter season, [loggers] would go on a picnic and they’d race to see who was the best axeman or the best pole climber,” Larsen said. “I think it’s important to keep traditions alive.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.