Tyler Brady turned heads in 2017 after picking up the Canadian Logger Sports Association titles of Novice and Intermediate Logger of the Year. The busy millworker and father of three will once again compete in front of a hometown crowd at Powell River Logger Sports this weekend, marking his second full year of competition.
How does it feel to compete in front of a hometown crowd?
When someone’s actually calling your name it’s a little different for sure. The first year, I think we had 12,000 people or something go through the gate on the Saturday. Doing the tree climb, you don’t realize how many people are there until you’re up above looking around and it’s shoulder-to-shoulder people, so that’s kind of neat.
Describe the journey that led you to becoming a logger sports competitor.
I guess I sort of grew up doing stuff like that. I was born and raised in the Queen Charlotte Islands, so as kids that’s kind of what we did was chop down trees and run chainsaws and things like that. A couple of years ago I met Julian [Welp], I can’t remember what we were doing, working or something, and he said he was going to go to Logger Sports practice so I just asked if I could tag along. Sure enough, the guys kind of liked what they saw and I stuck around.
After claiming two Canadian Logger Sports Association titles last season, how are you feeling heading into this year?
Unfortunately not as good as last year. I kind of lucked out last year where my wife was on maternity leave so I had a little bit more spare time. We have three kids now so it’s busy. I haven’t had nearly as much time to practise as I did last year, so I’m a little nervous, but I’ve come to grips with it. I’m probably not going to do as well as last year, or at least I don’t feel like I will, but you never know.
What is the on-site atmosphere like among competitors?
The camaraderie is first class. Honestly, doing the event and everything is exciting and you get the odd win and that’s great, but the people at each show are all just world class. The old timers who have been doing it for years and years have no bones about coming up to help you if you need some tweaking. The camaraderie is the best part for me.
Are there resources available in Powell River for someone who might be looking to become a competitor in the future?
Absolutely. They can always source any one of us out. We’ve developed a little training ground behind Julian’s house. It’s usually just a matter of getting wood to train with; that’s the obstacle sometimes. We do have a few communal axes that we use because equipment is one of the biggest expenses of the whole thing. An axe ranges from $500 to $800 and hand saws are $2,000 or more. I would say source us out and we can give them some info and lean them in the right direction, and teach them a few things about how to go about it, how to chop or saw or anything like that.
