Louise

Louise is a native of Johannesburg, South Africa, living in West Hills, California since 1978. She has proven her self in education, sports, and in her fight against an aggressive form of breast cancer on two occasions. She has extensive experience in endurance sports, and has competed in numerous ultra marathons, expedition multi day running races, and expedition adventure races both nationally and internationally. She has summited several high mountain peaks with a dream of completing all of the Seven Summits. In addition to her athletic endeavors, Louise is a teacher and has been a leader in the outdoor community. She has worked as an outdoor instructor, corporate training facilitator, motivational speaker, and fundraiser for various foundations. She uses her victories in sport and life to serve as an example of how to confront life’s obstacles. Lumberjacking started as a fun neighborhood friends get together and fast turned into a passion. It is another non-gender based sport that she has happily embraced and added to her athletic repertoire!

FOUNDING MEMBERS

Sharon

Sharon's (Sha’Rone) lumberjack career took an irregular path from the timber-sports haven of Israel, where he was born, to the timber-sports hub of Los Angeles, California. Sharon arrived at the United States in 1989 and immediately fell in love with the country, its spirit of liberty, and its people. Sharon received his PhD in Geophysics from the California Institute of Technology in 1996, and joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2001, where he serves as a Research Scientist and Project Manager. Sharon’s hobby began as a back yard activity where he chops, splits, and saws logs with his autistic son, his wife, daughter, neighbors, and with anyone who would grab the other end of a double-buck saw. His passion for timber-sports equals his passion for Earth and Planetary exploration.

Jeff

Jeff was born, raised, and still currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. To be more specific, West Hills. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Jeff grew up exploring the local Southern California Mountains, from the San Gabriel’s to the San Bernardino’s. As a Boy Scout, he was introduced to the Sierra Nevada where over the last 50 years he has logged over 250 backcountry excursions and covered several thousand miles. From early on Jeff has had a passionate love for the mountains he has traveled in. This love has inspired him to have made a career in the Outdoor Industry. Jeff worked for outdoor specialty retailer Adventure 16 for 17 years and today he is the principle owner at Trailhead Sales and Associates, a premier sales agency in the Outdoor Industry. And he loves sawing wood!

Maggie

Woof woof. Bark.

Boring information that you should know

The West Hills Lumberjack Club is a limited liability company.

Who we are

From the start – the very start – chopping or sawing a piece of wood was a requirement for life itself. It gave us shelter to protect ourselves from the elements. It gave us fire to cook our food and warmth to keep us alive. We made weapons to protect ourselves and the food part too. Over time, as we have grown and evolved to be surrounded by creature comforts, many of us today simply don’t do the things our ancestors needed to do. We have pool cleaners and housekeepers and plumbers and gardeners and roofers and pretty much anyone at anytime to tend to all the tasks of living our daily lives.

What the West Hills Lumberjack Club has discovered is by the simple act of sawing (and sometimes chopping) wood, maybe – just maybe – it takes us to a place where we were a bit more primal. Something gets triggered that rekindles what it must have been like to cut enough wood so your family didn’t freeze to death in the winter. It was simply the only way to shelter yourself.

Today when we gather to saw, it’s about our friends and our community that we live in. Sometimes we saw for the fun of it. Sometimes for the companionship. Sometimes because of the amazing workout. Sometimes because of the smile on your face after a great saw. Sometimes it’s just joyful. And therein lies our secret. We’re making people happy.

WEST HILLS