Labor Day
Tossing Cabers
Lee
Mitchell’s list of hobbies isn’t a typical one: hammer throw, railroad handcar racing,
Power lifting, spike driving and, most important, Caber tossing.
Since
2002, Mitchell has fallen in love with the Caber toss, which involves throwing
a large wooden pole called a caber. Maybe it’s in his blood, as both his father
and mother have a Scottish heritage. It has led him to a decade of state
caber-toss championship titles. Most recently he claimed the Washington State Caber-toss champion title August 6.
“I never
thought I would be a state champion of anything when I was younger Not only am
I Utah’s champion, I’m one of the nationally elite caber tosses. There’s just a
thrill when you do well at anything.”
The
goal of the Caber toss is not to throw the caber a long distance, but to toss
it end over end, so it falls straight from the tosser in a 12 o’clock position.
Mitchell screams, yells and even jumps in the air when he hits a perfect 12 o’clock
score.
The caber toss
originated in Scotland near the end of the 11th century. Some claim
the sort evolved from the need to cross narrow chasm via a long log. To honor the
sport’s roots competitors typically dress in a kilt and long wool stockings
adorned with flashes, which are colorful ribbons attached to a garter. Mitchells
wardrobe includes three kilts one in camouflage and another more triditional plaid kilt imported directly
from Scotland that cost $400.
One
of his favorite events is the Highland Games held annually in July in Payson
where he got his start in the sport. He also has competed at events at the
Hill air Force Base, Draper Cache Celtic festival Cedar City Thanksgiving Point
Emery County and Jackson Hole collecting awards all along the way.
Surrounded in his home by ribbons and medals,
Mitchel is particularly fond of the more unusual awards, such as a railroad tie
and assortment of knives that resemble a thistle Scotland’s national emblem. He
a native of Clinton didn’t earn may awards in high school. His path to Scottish
heavy athletics got its start in the handcar races in which he and his family
competed in the 1990’s. When local support for the handcar races waned he searched
for a new sport. On his spacious Marriott-Slatersville property, he often throws
a 19-foot log weighing 60 pounds. In his years of practice, he broke so many
wooden cabers that he decided to start tossing a steel one. An old 13-foot-long
flag pole weighting 108 pounds now fits the bill. Here is no standard length or
weight.
DR. KARL WALLACE
D.D.S.
