[Highland Games] The tossing of the caber

If you're not familiar with Scotland but have heard of some of the more outlandish competitions happening here you may have heard about the "tree throwing" contest, or as we call it tossing the caber.

The "tree" is really just a pole made of the local larch tree which towers 19ft and 6in (just under 6m) and weighs 175lbs. The contestant carries the caber over his shoulder and must throw it up in the air to have the other end land first. The straighter the other end lands, the more points are awarded.

[Highland Games] The tossing of the caber

If you’re not familiar with Scotland but have heard of some of the more outlandish competitions happening here you may have heard about the “tree throwing” contest, or as we call it tossing the caber.

The “tree” is really just a pole made of the local larch tree which towers 19ft and 6in (just under 6m) and weighs 175lbs. The contestant carries the caber over his shoulder and must throw it up in the air

Google+: Reshared 5 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.

15 thoughts on “[Highland Games] The tossing of the caber”

  1. You may not know this. But the actor who played Moses in the Movie the Ten Commandments ,Charlton  Heston was of Scottish heritage and often was at these games. I saw a photo many years ago with him in Kilt and tossing the caber ..Jean-Loup Rebours-Smith.

  2. +Jean-Loup Rebours-Smith , I only noticed because a professor, who came to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, wrote a book on tartans and his was the only book which mentioned the 'Leggett' surname as being able to use the Stirling tartan. Yes, apparently there are two tartans associated with Stirling, the most common is the light blue, with pink and yellow. The darker may be a formal tartan, although that is just a guess on my part.

  3. +Samuel Leggett My sister and her husband and brother in-law used to sell Scottish Pies  and Bridies at the games in U S A.. and we also sold Jewlery and all things Scottish.   Camerons    
     Helped out many time.. Been to Grandfather Mountain.. they lived in Sumter  S.C .

  4. +Samuel Leggett My sister has home in Sumter. I now reside in Scotland as do my 2 sisters who lived in Sumter. I am the sister who is Canadian by choice.  I used to reside in L.I and N.J. But my childrens father was from Nova Scotia so we moved.. to Canada..  My brother-law most likely knows area as their children still live in S.C. And I have another niece in  N.C

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top