Five things you should know about the Timbersports championship next weekend

This extreme competition event takes place at the main beach in Wasaga Beach alongside the annual Wasaga Beach Motorcycle Rally, which is the biggest annual rally in Canada.

Stirling Hart of Canada competes in the standing block chop discipline during the Stihl Timbersports Champions Trophy at the Hamburg Cruise Center Altona in Hamburg, Germany on May 20, 2017. Contributed photo

If you are planning on attending the Timbersports Canadian Championships in Wasaga Beach next weekend (July 19-22) here are five things you should know about the event:

These athletes are extremely efficient at cutting down trees and sawing logs. There are six disciplines included in a Timbersports Canadian Championship event involving chainsaws, axes and crosscut saws. The disciplines are: springboard chop, underhand chop, Stihl stock saw, standing block chop, single buck, and hot saw. The springboard chop is a three-part skill. The first two parts involve the athlete cutting notches in a vertical log and sticking a long narrow board into the notches. The athlete uses the boards to climb up the “tree” and balances on the top board while cutting off the top of the “tree.” Canadian Stirling Hart set the world record in the springboard event two years ago with a time of 35.67 seconds.
The top 40 Timbersport athletes from across Canada (male and female) will be competing in the championship event, which takes place at the main beach area in Wasaga Beach. Titles up for grabs include Pro Men’s, Pro Women’s and Rookie Division. The current reigning champion, Mitch Hewitt from Scotch Creek, BC will be competing as well as 2017 Canadian Pro Women’s Champion Kelly Bowness from Alberton, PEI and world champion trophy winner Stirling Hart, of Vancouver, BC. Qualifying athletes at the Canadian Championship will represent Team Canada at the World Championship in Liverpool, England on October 19 and 20, 2018.
It’s like, really dangerous. The hot saw event, for example, has a competitor attempting to cut three “cookies” from a round wood log using a chainsaw that can reach chain speeds of 240 km/h with a 62 horsepower engine.
The championship takes place on the same weekend as the Wasaga Beach Motorcycle Rally, which is now the largest annual rally in Canada, featuring more than 50,000 motorcycles. The rally runs July 20-22.
There will be outdoor concerts all day Friday and Saturday, featuring mostly rock and new country/rock bands.

Find out more about the Stihl Timbersports Series here and more about the motorcycle rally here. The full schedule of events for the Timbersports Canadian Championships is as follows: