Fort Nelson man takes on renowned test of strength

But lifting them off the ground isn't easy, let alone walking with them. Just over 400 people are said to have managed the feat in some form since.

Coty Hardy from Fort Nelson, B.C., recently tried his hand at the Herculean feat, but didn't quite make the record books on a recent trip to Scotland.

Now, he's started a group — Alaska Highway Stones of Strength — to teach others about the stone lifting tradition in northeast B.C. He spoke with CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton. Note: The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Coty, hello. Before we get to your trip to Scotland, tell us more about this tradition of stone lifting.

Well, in my reading it seems like there's evidence of it all over the world, and they're finding more and more of it. You know, what do boys do when they want to compete? Who can jump the farthest, who can lift this, you know, climb the tree. That's what they had before there were gyms.

And what got you into it?

I just wanted something new. I came from a construction background, where you're always lifting odd things. I don't feel like the gym prepares you for lifting weird stuff in challenging conditions. The gym is a flat floor and everything's perfect.

Can you describe what you're lifting? Because it's quite a feat.

You can go down the river and grab any old stone and it might seem light, but the shape of it can make it very challenging. So, it forces you to adapt and improvise. I have my own personal stones that I know very well and I know how to lift them and the easiest way to get it onto my shoulder. But, I like going to the river and just saying, hey, grab that one and play with it for a while.

And you have to get it all the way up onto your shoulder?

There's different ways you can look at it. The Scottish, they say, "Getting wind under the stones," so that's just breaking it off the earth. That might be the first thing you ever do with it. Then maybe your next step is to get it to your lap and you could call that your record on that stone. Then the next would be to hoist it to your chest, then maybe to the shoulder. Some guys press overhead, I don't really do that so much. 

I know in Scotland, and Ireland, I believe, where that was the challenge for the area. You'd have to lift a stone onto something roughly chest height. So I have a bunch of logs cut up to knee height and belly height, and that could be the challenge. Some of the Scottish games, I believe, they lift onto whiskey barrels.

Now, you went to Scotland and you went and lifted some famous rocks. Can you tell us about that?

Well, the Dinnies you could probably say are the most famous lifting stones in the world. They're kind of different than most because they have ringed handles and most people kind of straddle them. The big challenge, besides it's 733 pounds, one is a little over 400 and the other ones a bit over 300. So, the awkwardness of having that much heavier weight on one side is quite uncomfortable to say the least. 

How much are you lifting at one time?

The Dinnies stones is 733 total. Basically the goal is to just have them in your hands and stand up with them and lock your legs out for like kind of a two-count and then you get your name in the book. I didn't quite get the two-count. I broke them off the ground and I’m pretty happy with that. I'm kind of a smaller guy in the stone lifting world. There were some real monsters there, that's for sure.

Was it part of a competition or an event?

For the Dinnies, you have to sign up well in advance. I signed up last September to lift them in May. They use them for one event I believe in the fall, but otherwise they just keep limited to the eight per month because they're trying to preserve them. Otherwise, it's just a cool challenge that's world famous and you do them and you get your name in the books, you're part of history...

-with files from CBC News