Kaslo, B.C., woman brings home timbersports championship title for 2nd year in a row

As Andrea Hand's ax slid all the way of life through and through the cottonwood cube during the underarm chop competition at the Stihl Timbersports Canadian Championships on Sept. 5, host Ryan McIntyre's voice rose with anticipation. 

"Oh wow! We may have it! Holy cow!"

McIntyre, a logger sport athlete himself, wondered whether Hand had just set a new world record for women's underhand chop at the competition held in London, Ont.

She finished the chop in 21.65 seconds. 

For those just learning about the sport — that's good. 

"I knew that I had never seen that time before," said Hand. 

Judges looked over the cut as spectators waited with bated breath. 

"We have a new world record. It's a good cut," the judge announced.

Hand's world record in the women's championships beat a record set earlier this year by American athlete Erin Lavoie. 

Hand also took home the Pro Women's Championship title for the second year in a row. 

The 40-year-old from Kaslo, a small village in B.C.'s West Kootenay region, is constantly training for timbersports competitions; during the season, she trains in her events — underhand chop, standing block chop, single buck and stock saw — three to four times a week, and she also runs a gym in town, where she trains at least five days a week. 

"For me, it's just how I see myself pushing forward."

Hand said her family has "deep roots" in the forestry industry. Her parents own a custom sawmill, her father was a faller and her sister and brother-in-law own a logging company. 

While she's never worked in forestry herself, instead choosing to become a paramedic, she said being around logging prompted her to get involved in casual logger sports. 

"I grew up watching logger sports games and then when I got into it, I found out that there was a national level of marketed Stihl timbersports to participate in," she said. "I threw my name in the hat and went to my first qualifier in 2018, and I got in and I was one of the top eight women in Canada."

She's had a few hiccups along the way, including a snowmobiling accident in 2022 that left her with a broken hip, femur and tailbone. She couldn't walk for four months. 

"My rehabilitation was a mix of stubbornness and determination," Hand said. "I had to sit out for part of a season of my competitive year, so I was really hungry to get back and just to put it all back together and get back out there and grab a couple wins."

Now that she's set a world record and won yet another national title, Hand is planning to take a bit of a break. 

"I have been non-stop travelling for the sport internationally now for two years," she said. "I'm planning on taking this winter off and just staying home and being in the mountains on my snowmobile."

Journalist

Courtney Dickson is an award-winning journalist based in Vancouver, B.C.

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