If someone says that to you, please get out of the way! Perhaps the perennial favorite of highland games is the caber toss. The caber is a section of a tree and so is naturally tapered. Due to its taper, a caber (from the Scotch gaelic 'cabar' for a pole) has its center of gravity closer to the thicker end, thus making it top heavy. This turns out to be an advantage to the thrower. The object of the caber toss is to lift it off the ground to a balanced vertical position, holding it close to the chest, neck and shoulder. The thrower then begins to run forward, maintaining the balance and allowing the caber to begin to lean forward. Coming to an abrupt stop, the held end is pulled up so as to work with the downward velocity of the thicker end, causing the caber to turn in the air. A successful toss occurs when the thicker end hits the ground first with the thinner end falling away from the thrower. Highest score is for a toss resulting in the thinner end pointing away from the thrower; if the thrower is at 6 o'clock on the dial face then the thinner end at 12 o'clock is a perfect toss.
Cabers may be made of any durable wood and the length and weight are geared to the abilities of the competition. Most will fall within a 14 to 21 foot length range and 80 to 150 pounds in weight.
See this video from October 2007 to see words in action.
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