If you’ve never seen a Loggers Sports competition, let this be the year. The strength, speed, balance, and all around competency of the athletes taking part is beyond anything you might expect as they swing axes, throw axes, climb poles, pull saws through massive pieces of wood, run along floating logs, and use footwork to put each other off spinning logs.
Starting today (Aug. 2), the 50 th annual Squamish Days Loggers Sports Festival will get underway, with dozens of events for members of the community as well as the main Loggers Sports events that attract an international field of athletes looking to win their share of thousands of dollars in prizes. Five contests — Tree Topping, Open Climb 80 Feet, Standing Butcher Block, Open Spring Board Chop, and Power Saw Tree Falling — are world championship events, and eight events are Canadian championships.
There are also Novice and Intermediate categories, Team Relay events, and the Ladies Triple Event, where competitors do the Axe Throw, Choker Race, and Single Buck.
There are 15 different Loggers Sports competitions during the festival, and detailed explanations of the different events are online at www.squamishdays.org
Squamish Days also features a variety of other events and attractions.
10K Run
On Sunday, Aug. 5, there will be the annual Squamish Days 10K Run and Flashback Mile, with registration at Howe Sound Secondary School from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. The cost is $23 for the 10 km race, which takes place on a flat, out-and-back course that is friendly to wheelchair athletes.
For runners keeping score, the 10 km race is a sanctioned event in the Timex B.C. Road Race Series.
The Flashback Mile is a special event that is being held to commemorate the 50 th year of Squamish Days, and is a one-mile run. The cost of taking part is $15.
Bed Races
One of the most entertaining events of Squamish Days is the annual Bed Race on Cleveland Avenue on Friday, Aug. 3. There are categories for men, women and mixed teams of four, with one member on the bed at all times. Three teams will be in every heat, pushing decorated hospital gurneys on a course outlined by traffic cones.
Other events include the Squamish Days Parade at 11 a.m. on Sunday in downtown Squamish, the classic car Show N’Shine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday on Government Road, and the Truck Rodeo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
There are also a wide range of community and cultural events, including the Women and Song performance on Thursday at Eagle Eye Theatre; the Squamish Station World Championship Chair Carve competition on Friday; the Children’s Sports day at Stan Clarke Park, the Squamish Days Giant Bingo, and the Squamish Days Loggers Stomp and Casino Night on Saturday; and the Elks Loggers Breakfast on Sunday. A detailed schedule is available on the festival website.
