Much more than just playing with axes, the Nevada Loggers
Patrick McNabb visits with the Nevada Loggers to understand what they get out of practicing so-called timber sports.
Known to some as the “original extreme sport,” timber sports originated on a lumberjack’s day off. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the increased immigration to the United States in the 1800s called for an increase of materials. Specifically, lumber. The white pine, a tree native to the northeast United States, became sought after due to its versatility. The soft wood was easy to cut and lightweight enough to float on water. From there, logging camps began to pop up all over the American north.
Records suggest that the competitions came as friendly wagers between loggers. “Timbersports were born from a bunch of guys being bored sitting around logging camp, and being hyper competitive they wanted to see who would be the best at different events,” says Chuck Lewis, the safety coordinator on site.
At the University of Nevada, Reno, these centuries old traditions are carried on through the Nevada Loggers, an organization on campus dedicated to competing in the competitions of old, with events in chopping, sawing, throwing and climbing.
The Nevada Loggers were gracious enough to allow me to join them in their first meeting of the fall 2022 semester.
Before my visit, I imagined a room full of flannel wearing lumberjacks throwing axes with perfect accuracy. When I arrived, I was surprised with the diversity of the meeting.
As I attended the practice, I watched as brand new members were taught the foundations of the skills that they needed to compete in three events. First, I watched the axe throwing event. The participant raised the axe over their head and threw it into a target around 10–20 feet away, a contest of accuracy. Next, I watched as members cut through a small log with a chainsaw. The final event I witnessed is called double buck. In this event, two members stand across from each other with an old crosscut saw to cut through a log in the quickest time possible.
To the innocent ear, these contests sound dangerous. I specifically remember my dad telling me “Don’t play with chainsaws,” but the Nevada Loggers are dedicated to the safety of their members. “In terms of safety, any time we’re running a chainsaw we’re using full PPE (personal protective equipment), ear-pro, eye protection, and boots,” Lewis tells me. “For our chopping events we actually have chainmail socks and leggings that go under people’s shoes so that they can’t chop their toe off.”
The close knit community of the Nevada Loggers has formed a culture like no other. From grad students to new freshmen, the unity of the Nevada Loggers keeps members coming back for more year after year.
Safety coordinator Lewis is a grad student who competed for the club even when he was an undergrad. Lewis says that the hardest part of creating a culture with the Nevada Loggers is recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the Nevada Loggers lost most of their members due to distance learning.
“I think the culture that we’ve started to build with this timber sports team after COVID, the group is very inclusive and diverse. What makes us stand apart from other groups is how the sports that we participate in give us real world skills. We are giving our members hard skills that they can use later in life,” says Lewis as we concluded our conversation.
Vanessa Arias is returning for her second year with the Nevada Loggers. At the start of last year, Arias had no idea what timber sports were. Due to her criminal justice major, she typically strayed away from anything forestry related. Discovering the organization at the 2021 fall club fair, Arias took a chance and signed up to be a member with the Nevada Loggers. “I like to say I joined for the axe throwing, but I stayed for the people,” said Arias about coming back for a second year, “They’ve always been super nice and welcoming, we do a bunch of socials. They’re just great people to be around.”
The Nevada Loggers had a demonstration at the NevadaFIT session before the semester started. This is where the club met new member Henry Snow. The environmental science major got to try his hand in the double buck competition.
“We talked about trees for a little bit and then we threw some axes. We did double buck, once I did double buck I was in love,” said Snow, “I started watching timber sports online and was like ‘yea I gotta do this’.”
Through the friendly and welcoming nature of the Nevada Loggers, they have created a particular subculture on campus. There is a different type of camaraderie that is created when handling these tools. “Here, everyone really feels like a family,” Arias told me to end our conversation. “I know that’s become a cliche, but with this group of people, I feel as though I can really depend on them unlike I have been able to in other clubs.”
