Ryan Villiers is the winner for Hope's 2025 World Class Chainsaw Carving event.
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon (Aug. 17) as a large crowd gathered to see which of the 12 carvers would win this year's competition in Memorial Park. Since Thursday (Aug. 14), the carvers had been creating a storm of wood shavings as they skillfully shaped their logs into impressive works of art. And, after four days of roaring chainsaws, Hope鈥檚 Community in Bloom crowned the winners of the Pro-Carver class.
Villier's won the bi-annual competition with his carving of a blue whale blowing a boat, with a Sasquatch in it, out of its blowhole.
Villiers, who is well known in Hope for his carvings of Sylvestor Stallone as Rambo, Brian Dennehy as Sheriff Will Teasle, the Grinch, and the Cookie Monster for Boston Bar Elementary and Secondary School, is this year鈥檚 winner for the Pro-Carver class.
Based out of Alberta, Villiers first began carving in 2017 and took it on full time the following year. A previous contestant of Hope鈥檚 2021 chainsaw woodcarving competition, he鈥檚 had a busy past two years working on big commissions for franchise chain stores in the USA, participating in competitions, and being a contestant on the Discovery Channel television show A Cut Above.
This is Villiers second year winning the chainsaw carving competition in Hope. His previous win was in 2023 for his carving of a mountain lion mother and cub hunting salmon.
Second place went to Mark Colp's carving of B.C. animals which also won this year's People's Choice award.
Third place when to Chris Foltz's carving of a Canadian superhero Wolverine.
During the event, the crowd had the chance to bid on the pieces created during the the speed carving competition (which took place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) as well as the main competition's finished entry pieces. During the auction for the large carvings, which took place on Sunday, Colp's piece sold for $5,500, making it this year's most expensive item bid on during the chainsaw event.
The second most expensive carving bid on was Villiers carving, which sold for $4,500, and Brigette Lochhead's carving, which sold for $4,000. Lochhead carved three salmon jumping through the water.
In total, $23,000 was made during the large carving auction.
In addition to the bidding on the carvings, people were also able to shop at the Chamber Market in the Park and buy bannock, and hotdogs, burgers, and poutine from the food trucks and vendors.
During the competition's closing remarks, Hope Communities in Bloom Co-Chair Teresa Williams thanked the volunteers, who had been working hard since last Tuesday (Aug. 12) to get the competition ready, and Mayor Victor Smith for his support and for emceeing the event.
Smith also acknowledged the carvers and their incredible work this year.
"When you see the T.V. shows they try to have the good guy and bad guy. And there is no good guy or bad guy," Smith said. "All the carvers get along. And it's like a brotherhood, or sisterhood. And they create amazing art. They will actually help each other get better and better. And it's just amazing."
The District of Hope also ended up keeping four of the large carving entries, which they place to place permanently throughout Hope. The pieces kept were Hope's very own Hannu Yliruusi's carving of two sea turtles, Benji Waretini-Hemara's carving of a lynx, Marina Cole's carving of a woman holding the world while being surrounded by a ring of light, and Porter Foltz's carving of a dachshund.
Smith said Porter's carving will be placed in front of the Hope dog park. Meanwhile, Yliruusi's piece is being considered for the Dan Sharrers Aquatic Centre. Locations for Cole's and Waretini-Hemara's works have yet to be decided.
