Practice makes perfect

The exciting sport of log rolling began in the rivers of a burgeoning America. As settlers headed west, more timber was needed for homes, businesses and pulp. The loggers of old would ride floating logs down stream, pushing other logs down river to an awaiting saw mill. This was called "birling". And loggers, being a competitive breed, would often challenge each other to see who could spin a floating log fastest, or who could stay on when sharing a log with a competitor.

As time passed, birlers would travel from their camps to challenge other camps in a variety of timber sports. Over time, birling became known as log rolling and has since become one of the most popular events in lumberjack sports today.

Rob Scheer is a legend in lumberjack sports. A former World Champion Speed Climber and the first man to hold the title of Ironjack, he has utilized his athletic talents to bring this amazing sport to millions of people around the world. His family has been instrumental in bringing timber sports to the forefront and the next generation of Scheer's are no different. Even the youngest members are world class timber competitors and are making their mark in the sport today.

The Cohos listen to their coach explain technique

Rob has long been an advocate of sharing the fun and challenging sport of log rolling with kids. In 2000, he opened the first log rolling school in the state of Alaska. The school is just one more step in his quest to keep memories of old America alive, and to keep kids moving!

The Ketchikan Coho's log rolling School, located at the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan, Alaska, continues to turn our Junior log rolling Champions with coaching from some of the best in lumberjack sports. Kasey Swenson, Nate Hare, Joel Kapp, Jessica Schneider, Taylor Duffy, Ian Freeburg, Matt Wren, Matt Bolton, Jake Justus, Zach Brown, Jeff Skirvin, Will LaValley, Brett McLeod, Robbie Miller, Andy Colle, Dan McDonough, Tony Bush, Darren Hudson, Kyle Roberts, Nicole Shreeve, Maggie Bulk, and Rob Scheer have all been involved in teaching the youth of Ketchikan the great sport of log rolling.

We send our top team members to compete in the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin each year and we always bring home top awards thanks to the dedicated lumberjacks that train our young athletes.

Sunshine & logrolling

Our youth log rolling program is the only one of its kind in the state of Alaska. Some of the best lumberjacks in the world lend their expertise to teach the youth of Ketchikan the athletic art of log rolling.

Kasey Swenson and Nate Hare, two of the top 10 log rollers in the world, started training our kids years ago and brought in another amazing roller, Joel Kapp, our current head coach. Training begins when school ends and our team is growing every year. Check out our photo albums.

Stop by the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show any day during the busy cruise ship season and watch some of the greatest athletes perform timber sports including log rolling.