INTERVIEW

ON A MISSION

Felixia made the switch from photography.

David Wylie speaks to Forestry worker, nature technician and Stihl Ambassador Felixia Banck about her new-found career as a lumberjack and Arborist working around Denmark’s capital city, Copenhagen

BACKGROUND

David Wylie: Felixia, tell us about yourself and your early career.

Felixia Banck: My previous job was really quite different, as I had a successful photography business. However, I lost both my parents to cancer within four years and decided to give up my business to look after my mother two years after my dad passed away. During her illness, I experienced therapy gardens and woodlands. That is when I also started looking around for something else to do and found an educational course on forestry and nature. Here in Denmark, the course is split into specialist areas.

Since I’m quite outdoorsy, I thought I’d like to do guided woodland walks as part of the course, which I started in 2017. However, I didn’t read the brief thoroughly and did not realise that being a lumberjack made up a large part of this course! But as soon as I had some experience with chainsaws – after learning how to start them – I fell in love with it straight away. My three-year university course involved a practical apprenticeship, as well as academic studies and work experience. So, I guess my life changed without any real planning involved.

DW: Your course sounds interesting. Tell us more about it.

FB: As part of my course, I chose the forest worker speciality and later on I managed to get an apprenticeship with a local arborist company, and since this work involved tree climbing, I finished my education as an

Left: Strength and technique are important.

Right: At this height, safety is paramount. Far right: Lots of planning is involved.

Arborist at the Forest and Landscape College within Københavns Universitet – the University of Copenhagen. The course covers everything from tree planting, calculating volumes of timber in the forest, management, tree cutting and rigging, and a whole host of other areas. I found it a really cool course and it is also very practical.

LUMBERJACK

DW: What do you like most about your job as a lumberjack?

FB: I absolutely love my job, as no two days are the same. Sometimes we can work on a tree for 15 minutes and we’re done, and other times we can be on site for over a week cutting down trees. It can get quite technical – and time consuming – when we take down trees around residential properties and gardening buildings like greenhouses, which are easily damaged. It’s very satisfying when you do a good, clean technical job.

We use a lot of speed-lining techniques to zip-line the cut sections of branches safely down to the ground when working at height. This is a really awesome way of working to get material down to specific points quickly.

DW: What do you dislike most about your job?

FB: Cleaning up all the mess, for sure. That’s when I really miss working in the forest environment, as you can just get on with cutting the trees and then pretty much leave the jobsite. FELLING A HUGE TREE IN THE FOREST AND WATCHING IT LAND EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANTED IT TO GO IS SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL Below: Maintenance and saw sharpening falls to Felixia.

DW: What is your best/most enjoyable experience as a lumberjack?

FB: I’ve had a lot of great experiences, but I think meeting people at exhibitions and I’ve also attended a lot of great training camps to share knowledge and experiences. I think one of the best things in the business is that you can share your experiences with others. But felling a huge tree in the forest and listening to that unique sound while watching it land exactly where you wanted it to go is something very special.

DW: What is your greatest achievement as a lumberjack?

FB: I love helping people who ask me for advice, and dispelling the argument that females can’t really do this job. I love making a case on social media that everyone can do this job regardless of gender [find Felixia Banck on social media: @femalelumberjack].

DW: What would you like to say to encourage others, both male and female, to become a forestry and nature technician?

FB: I get a lot of questions on social media from both males and females about what