SPOKANE, Wash. – The thumping and splintering of wood hums behind Erin Lavoie’s Predation CrossFit gym as she trains.
“It really is, it’s just a 3-2-1-go, I attack no matter where I’m at, and I enjoy it,” Lavoie said.
Erin is a lumberjill, competing and dominating across the country in timbersports, an extreme sport focusing on wood cutting skills.
Tthe biggest goal in my life, when I was first adventuring out and seeking what do I want to do, was competition,” Lavoie said. “I wanted to really excel at that, I really enjoyed it.”
The Spokane native does it all herself: from harvesting the wood in Idaho to splitting each log just a bit faster every time, she sees the incremental improvement that led her to a 2024 Timbersports world title.
“Took me a lot longer to chop through a block of wood than it does now,” Lavoie said. “I don’t think I notice it daily, but when I look back at things I used to accomplish or people that I used to seek out to beat, and now they’re not even in the picture, that’s progress and that’s cool.”
Timbersports Sports Director Nathan Waterfield has watched Erin both grow her game and the sport itself over the past 20+ years, one that started with just one other woman competing against Erin.
“For an athlete to be able to start off on top, and really avoid falling, just sort of resting on their laurels and just doing what they know how to do, to have to continually improve to stay on top, it takes a lot,” Waterfield said.
“I’d imagine it’s a lot harder to make the money and be competitive now starting out than it was for me early on,” Lavoie said. “That’s the only thing I’ve ever witnessed, past that, I just do what I love.”
Despite all the fame and standard-setting within the sport, Erin values her settled mind the most.
“I do the best when I have fun, so now I just skip around on stage and have fun , and hug my friends, and let things happen.”
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