Xander Waibel takes a cut at the springboard chopping competition.photo by Lynn Woodward
Xander Waibel takes a cut at the springboard chopping competition.photo by Lynn Woodward
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Lumberjacks honor long tradition
Lumberjack, an old-fashioned name for a logger. It refers back to an earlier time before chainsaws and other modern logging equipment. Their hand tools generally consisted of a cross-cut saw and an ax.

This correspondent's father was a logger. He used a chainsaw. He also used a skidder to haul the logs out of the woods, which in the early days was not as mechanical as they are now, and frequently got stuck. In later years he used a Caterpillar.

Logging can be a dangerous profession. Hauling logs is a skill in itself. Hauling through a thick forest down dirt roads slightly wider than a trail, uneven, bumpy, frozen, often muddy, with a view blocked by trees that might hit you in the face. Equipment tips over, chains break. Moving logs down a river, people can fall off, get trapped under the log and drown or be crushed.

The real challenge is felling trees. Most people learn from an expert who teaches them the tricks of the trade. It only takes one mistake for those new at the job to wish they'd listened a little closer. Many a man has lost a leg because an ax or chainsaw ricocheted off a knot in a tree.

Even in modern times, loggers will live in primitive shacks in the woods until the project is done. In colder climates, a snow bank or cold stream keeps food cold. A heavily weighted tin (hopefully) prevents wild animals from enjoying your lunch before you do.

Bob Burdick remembers his days as a lumberjack.

"I worked for 10 years as a lumberjack, from the time I was a junior in high school. I lied about my age to get the job," Burdick said. "I went out to set chokers to haul the logs into the landing for the trucks."

Bratt Van Hauten worked for Dave Priest, head of the silviculture program for the Sisters Ranger District.

"I used to thin hazard trees. I did it for four years. It was great work. We used a chainsaw to log the big trees and I set chokers to haul logs and I built fences. We had guys on the crew climb trees too," Van Hauten said.

Dave Weatherhead, master of ceremonies of Saturday's Stihl Timbersports Series Lumberjack Show, remembers the work ethic of being a logger.

"I grew up on a dairy farm, and logged in the winter," said Weatherhead. "I worked with an uncle who still logs, and developed his love of logging. My uncle also thought about conservation. The work ethic is cool. You don't whine because you're cold - you work. Or because you've got the sniffles - you work."

Logging can be different in different parts of the country. Springboard chopping in which a two-inch-thick board is put into a tree for the logger to stand on, is generally done in the Midwest if a tree is on a steep slope, and on the West Coast to get above the root system.

"I was in Ukiah, California," Weatherhead said, "and saw an old-growth 12- to 15-foot-wide tree, and you could still see the springboard marks on the tree. I bet you could still fit a springboard into those marks."

Saturday's event introduced us to young lumberjack in residence, Peter Vrbata, who will tell you he's 3-3/4 years old. He and his father, Honza Vrbata, came up from Bend to see the lumberjacks.

Peter was the first winner of a small wooden "bunny chair," carved by lumberjack Xander Waibel.

"Peter was a lumberjack for Halloween, so it was amazing he got picked," said his father. "He has a toy chainsaw and a toy ax at home. He loves Sisters. We took him to the parade this summer and the rodeo."

"I love my chair," said Peter. "The lumberjack gave it to me because it didn't fit him."

"Peter's all about lumberjacks," his mother, Margey, said. "He wears suspenders all the time."
A chilly breeze couldn't keep a hardy crowd away from the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce's "From Timber to Turned Wood" event, held Saturday on a lot in Pine Meadow Village.

The bleachers were full for each of three lumberjack shows staged by Stihl Timbersports Series Events.

"This is our first-ever logging competition," Chamber Executive Director Erin Borla said. "We're here celebrating the sesquicentennial (150 years of Oregon statehood), celebrating the history of our state and our

community."

The crowd was thrilled to see lumberjack competitors show off their skills in chopping, ax throwing, pole climbing, logrolling and more.

"I've seen logging competitions on ESPN from Wisconsin, but to see it here, live in Sisters is amazing," said Rick Rollins.

The star attraction was two competitors, Derek Knutson and Xander Waibel, competing in seven logging events for three shows. Stihl Timbersports hails from Hayward, Wisconsin. The performers charmed the crowd with their midwest humor.

Host Dave Weatherhead immediately separated the two competitors into "logging camps." Knutson represented camp number 13 and Waibel camp number 9, with each half of the crowd cheering and booing for their favorite camp.

First up, they competed with crosscut saws to see who could cut through their log first. Camp 13's Knutson won it. Then came three ax throws. Waibel nailed the practice shot with a bullseye, but Knutson won the competition with Waibel missing the target and splitting the backboard. Weatherhead explained that Waibel wasn't used to doing those throws because his mother usually did them for him.

Ironically, competitor and 2009 National Speed Climbing champion Derek Knutson got into the sport because of his mother.

"My mom was a logroller and she got me started as a little kid when I was four. It's my sixth year doing shows," Knutson said. "I have been doing this to be able to travel and see the country."

Competitor Xander Waibel, from Eugene, Oregon, started as a competitor because his dad and grandpa were show competitors.

"When I was a little kid, 5 years old," Waibel said, "my dad put me on a log. Logrolling is still my favorite event. Tree climbing is my next favorite, but for years I didn't want to do it because I saw so many people get hurt."

While the competitors had their own version of chainsaw carving, Sisters' own Skip Armstrong was there to demonstrate how the pros do it. Armstrong carved a group of herons in the morning and a family of otters in the afternoon.

"I've been carving for 35 years," Armstrong said. "I started when I was program director for a kids' camp on Spirit Lake. I thought it would be great to teach to the kids to make totem poles and masks' and since there was no one else around to do it, I learned to carve, taught them, and got hooked."

Vendors inside the big tent demonstrated their own variety of woodworking skills.

Swiss Mountain Log Homes and owners Phil and Kris Rerat, one of the event's main sponsors, brought log samples.

"We buy straight from loggers in the woods, from the logging deck," Phil explained. "I usually buy dead standing lodgepole pine with good humidity.

"Our logs are hand crafted, not milled," Phil said. "They're hand-peeled and hand-scribed. Scribing transfers the contours of the log onto the adjacent log."

"There's a universal appeal to logs," his wife Kris added. "They have a warm and cozy feel."

Larry Thorson, of La Pine, whose wood bowls are displayed at DonTerra Artworks in Sisters, uses blue and buggy pine to make his bowls.

"You can't use the wood for two-by-fours or building, and the beetle holes make it unique," Thorson said.

Dave and Diana Cretsinger, of Crooked River Ranch, former owners of Tumbleweed Country Store in Sisters, use rustic salvaged wood to make furniture and picture frames. Items are embellished with leather from a draft horse harness, and a variety of salvaged rivets and other metal bits.

"As a kid I liked old wood, and as I got bigger decided I wanted to make furniture for a store," Dave said. "I sometimes use steelwork, horse shoes. The details make the piece."

Bill MacDonald was joined by his son Graham, and represented the Sisters High School Luthier Program. MacDonald explained the art of building and repairing stringed instruments

"There are only two high schools in the United States who build guitars. The best part of the program is to see the kids walk out with a guitar in hand. The flex kids with their challenged home life are the best. They build self esteem, so the kids clean up their act because they are proud of what they accomplish," MacDonald said.

Jean Nave, founder of the Sisters Country Historical Society, taught people to carve a sign using

old-fashioned hand tools.

"My folks carved years ago. I wanted to make a sign, bought the tools, drew my sign and started carving it," Nave said. "A friend inherited 150-year-old tools. The steel is better and can't be reproduced today."

Three Sisters Lions Club provided food for the day's festivities. Their Beer Baron Smoked Sausage and chili kept people warm.