After a short hiatus, Powell River Logger Sports is returning to Loggers Memorial Bowl Amphitheatre at Willingdon Beach.
Some of the world’s most skilled axe throwers, springboard choppers and pole-climbers are coming to compete against local and Canadian champions this summer, according to a media release from the organization. This year’s event, which will run from July 14 to 16, will feature nine Canadian championships, three world championships, as well as North American championship titles being up for grabs.
Contestants will travel from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, USA and from across Canada. Canadian and American national teams will both attend and battle over the CanAm series.
New this year: the whole event is free to attend. Organizers are asking people who plan to check out the action to bring nonperishable food to donate to Powell River Action Centre Food Bank, and hope there will be enough to fill a gravel truck each day.
Audiences will also enjoy the chainsaw carving contest, high-tree act, lucky program draws throughout the weekend with prizes, historical displays and much more, according to the release. Former Logger Sports World Champion Bob Marquis, a fourth-generation logger and president of the Powell River Logger Sports Board, will be at the helm of the event. He is also on the executive of the BC Truck Loggers Association, and with his son Brett, owns Bob Marquis Contracting.
“This is going to be the best show, at the best venue in Canada,” stated Bob, pointing out that the Loggers Memorial Bowl Amphitheater, which faces the Salish Sea, was built by industry volunteers in 2018. “The past few years have been an exciting time for forest industries in the Sunshine Coast region. Never before has so much of the forest been under local control, being logged with local values.”
He added that it has also been a tough time, losing the 110-year-old Catalyst Paper Tis’kwat mill, and the jobs that went with it.
“But the work that Tla’amin Nation and the Powell River Community Forest are doing, alongside many other excellent local industry leaders, is a beacon of hope for the future here,” added Bob. “Powell River Logger Sports is thrilled to showcase the heritage and contemporary skills, and the industry that has made this region prosper for so long, and will, sustainably, for generations to come.”
