Lumberjacks bring their skills to Whoop-Up Days

By Lethbridge Herald on August 22, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

This year Whoop-Up Days attendees can experience a free Extreme Lumberjacks show where they can learn about what happens in some lumberjack events. 

Chase Gundersen, head lumberjack with the show, said attendees can expect to see a variety of techniques and skills showcased. 

“It’s a demonstration of new and old logging techniques, and logger events. We do chainsaw racing, speed climbing, single bucking, log rolling, axe throwing, and a little bit of chainsaw carving as well,” said Gundersen. 

He said shows can vary between 20 to 30 minutes in length, depending on how many staff members are able to take part in it. 

“Depends on how many people are here and what kind of events we do. If we don’t have someone who can run some of the equipment, we can change things up a bit.”

He explained that with the equipment they have and the ability for staff members to use it, they can have up to a hundred different events, and therefore people have an opportunity to see something different every time. 

“People seem to like it. We have some jokes during the show, even though is not a comedy show by any means, the jokes tend to hit well, and it’s nice to see people laugh,.

He added that the show has been well attended in general, but usually the last show of the day has been the fullest so far. 

“We have three shows per day, at 2 p.m. at 4 p.m. and at 6 p.m. The last show seems to have more people, probably because they are off work by then and because the heat is not as bad at that point.”

The show brings together lumberjacks from different backgrounds. Gundersen is from Vancouver Island, while two others are from Quebec and one is from New Zealand. 

“This is the first time coming together as a team, and because all of the equipment is portable, we’ve been all over the place. We started in Winnipeg and have done a couple of shows across Alberta,” said Gundersen. 

Even though this show is new, he been doing lumberjack shows since 2016 and hopes everyone attending Whoop-Up Days stops by to see the show.