PORT ANGELES — Gabe Rygaard is known by millions of viewers around the world as one of TV’s “Ax Men” — a rugged logger on the History Channel’s hit reality show.
But here in Port Angeles, he’s just another hard-working blue-collar guy — who happens to be famous.
“People notice you, of course, but it’s kind of nice around here,” Rygaard said.
“You don’t get a lot of the lookie-loos freaking out.”
Port Angeles-based Rygaard Logging Inc. begins its third season featured on “Ax Men” today. The first episode of Season 4 airs on the History Channel at 9 p.m.
The foundation of the show is a competition to see who can haul the most truckloads of logs out of the forest in a season.
The winner gets no trophy or prize, other than the satisfaction that comes with beating rivals from the Pacific Northwest, the deep South and — new in Season 4 — Alaska and British Columbia.
“It’s basically for bragging rights and for TV,” Rygaard explained.
“We just go out and give them a good show.”
About 4 million viewers watch the program every week. It is especially popular on the East Coast and in Europe, where towering Douglas Firs and the remote wilderness are novelties.
Many fans appreciate the no-nonsense style and sometimes-fiery side of Gabe and his father, Craig Rygaard, who formed the company in 1993.
“Others don’t like our attitudes,” Gabe Rygaard said.
“Bloggers on the Internet take it hook, line and sinker. Some of it is just TV.”
Rygaard Logging was crowned “King of the Mountain” by winning the load count in its debut in Season 2 of the show.
The Port Angeles loggers came three loads short of the top spot in a second-place finish to archrival J.M. Browning of Astoria, Ore., in Season 3.
Other than what happens on their own job sites, “Ax Men” loggers aren’t privy to the season they just filmed.
“I have no idea who wins,” Gabe Rygaard said.
“I don’t know what the episodes look like. I’ll be watching it on TV like everybody else.”
“Ax Men” provides an edited look into the life of a logger. Thousands of minutes of footage are cut down to 12-minute segments for each episode.
The action cuts from one logging company to the next, highlighting flare-ups among loggers, equipment malfunctions, pranks, greenhorns who are often out of their league and near-accidents that make the job so dangerous.
“Ax Men” was expanded from 13 to 20 episodes for Season 4, which suggests the show still resonates with its international audience.
Rygaard Logging garners plenty of airtime on the one-hour episodes, in part because of its characters and in part because it performs so well.
Although the program added four new companies for Season 4, Rygaard Logging is featured as an anchor outfit for Season 4.
Filmed from June through September, Rygaard Logging worked at sites near Kalaloch, Bigler Mountain west of Lake Crescent and just outside of Port Angeles in Season 4.
“We worked our a—s off,” Gabe Rygaard said.
Craig Rygaard said the season has some new twists. He said there is a fight between father and son, and greenhorn David Schroeder returns.
Papac Alaska Logging, Olson Marine of Alaska and Lemare Lake Logging of British Columbia were added to the “Ax Men” roster this season.
Shelby Stanga, a charismatic Louisiana swamp logger, is back for his second season, and Aberdeen natives James and Jimmy Smith return for underwater logging on an alligator-infested Florida river.
Gabe Rygaard said the Alaska newcomers and Northwest rivals J.M. Browning and Pihl Logging of Vernonia, Ore., will be the toughest competition.
“All I will say is it was one of the hardest seasons for us and one of the hardest for our company,” Gabe Rygaard said.
“The logging was hairy at times, but we did pretty good.”
The “Ax Men” website is at www.history.com/shows/ax-men. It has biographies, past episodes and an interactive 3-D logging tour.
Rygaard Logging sells shirts, hats, suspenders and other items through its website, www.rygaardlogging.com.
“It’s helped our business survive some pretty hard economic times,” Gabe Rygaard said of being on “Ax Men.”
But there’s also a down side to being famous. The company is under more scrutiny now, Gabe Rygaard said, and the work is just as tough as it’s always been.
“Actually it’s a challenge,” he said.
“On TV, it seems like it’s big-time fun and games. It looks good on TV, but behind the scenes, it’s a lot of work, and it’s a lot of stress.”
Camera crews, though savvy, are in constant danger as they document the action.
“They had more to worry about than they really needed,” Craig Rygaard said.
Rygaard Logging was introduced to reality TV in March 2008, when Original Products put them on an episode of “America’s Toughest Jobs.”
Gabe Rygaard, who co-owns the company with his father and brother, Jason, recently traveled to Louisville, Ky., to demolish a house for an episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.”
“It’s been great to work with and meet new people and expand the business by being on TV,” Gabe Rygaard said.
Loggers often joke that most people who work in Port Angeles keep banker’s hours.
By contrast, a logger gets up for work at 3 a.m. and sometimes doesn’t get home until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.
They generally work Monday through Friday, when the mills are open, and spend the weekends fixing equipment and washing log trucks.
“It’s really a way of life,” Gabe Rygaard said.
“You live it, you breathe it, you sleep it. It becomes a part of who you are.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.