An Angus axe man is ready to carve a name for himself in what is considered the major worldwide league of lumberjack sports.
Dundee and Angus College tutor Grant Adams showed off his chainsaw skills and also showed how handy he is with an axe during target practice at the D&A’s St Vigeans Glebe outdoor facility in Arbroath.
Grant is taking part in the STIHL Timbersports event in Shropshire which attracts people from all over the country.
Despite having 25 years’ chainsaw experience this is the first time the Arbroath man has taken part competitively in an event of this sort.
The STIHL Timbersports Series was launched in the USA in 1985 before Europe joined the series in 2001 and competitions are today held on four continents with some 2,000 athletes from 23 nations taking part.
Grant, who turns 50 on April 14, will compete in the novice/newcomer event which comprises three disciplines including chainsaw technique, axe work and single buck saw skills.
The disciplines replicate lumberjack skills, simulating the practice of felling or managing felled trees.
He is happy to wait a couple of days for a birthday present ideally a top seven place which would book him a slot in the British Championship at the Yorkshire Game Fair at the end of June.
The former Angus Council tree-surgeon first got to grips with a chainsaw in 1991 and has honed his skills ever since the well-known owl statue on the college grounds on Arbroath’s Keptie Road is just one of Grant’s carvings.
See the full story in Friday’s Courier.