Lumberjack Superstar
Alumnus Walt Page competes before a packed arena during an international timbersports competition.
Photo courtesy of Stihl Inc.
Alumnus Walt Page, 34, a forestry and natural resources major from Tollhouse, California, pursued his passion for the outdoors after graduating from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences in 2012. Today, he works as a full-time timber felling contractor in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He’s also a lumberjack superstar.
While at Cal Poly, Page competed on the Cal Poly Logging Team, quickly finding that the lumberjack events were something he enjoyed. After graduation he continued wood chopping at competitions throughout the U.S., eventually earning international recognition. Today he is a world class timbersports athlete.
Page excelled at the 2016 Stihl Timbersport U.S. Professional Championship, where he tied for third. It was his fourth year competing at the national finals, quickly moving his way up to the top 3. He finished fourth in 2015, sixth in 2014 and 10th in 2013.
Page said he trains year-round for the sport, focusing on sharpening his wood-chopping skills during the summer months and weight training and cardio in the winter. He competes in the wood chopping and sawing categories, which include the standing underhand chop (swinging an axe downward to cut the log you are standing on), springboard chops (climbing and chopping), power-sawing and hand-sawing events.
While he enjoys all of the wood chopping events, the springboard chop event is his favorite, he said. The springboard chop combines the skills of chopping and climbing – a skillset that Page uses often in his forestry career. Contestants climb up to nine feet using springboard placements and chop through a 12-inch-diameter log mounted on the top of a pole.
He has competed at numerous lumberjack events, including competitions in Australia and Canada. When he is not competing, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Caitlin, and 3-year-old daughter Claire.
Page continues to give back to Cal Poly, volunteering each year to help coach the Cal Poly Logging Team.