Science & Outdoors
Jane Coughenour (left) and Sarah Fischer (right) compete in Jill and Jill (all female) crosscut sawing.
Second annual Woodchuck Games a success for UW-SP:Log rolling, tree identification and crosscut sawing included as popular events
The Pointer
kbose675@uwsp.edu
On April 25, the serene woods surrounding the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station were engulfed by the sounds of chopping, sawing and the yells of dozens of college students. The second annual Woodchuck Games were in full force during a drizzling day at CWES, with students competing and cheering from the University of Wisconsin –Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Minnesota. The Woodchuck Games are a timbersports competition, a form of logging games that is rich in history.
Timbersports, or logging games, are a series of events that derived from early logging camps, where loggers became competitive with each other in their everyday jobs. Timbersports have evolved from the everyday working skills of a lumberjack to serious sporting events, with men and women competing in chopping, sawing, logrolling, tree climbing and more.
The Woodchuck Games were created by the UW-SP student chapter of the Society of American Foresters in order to have more opportunities to compete before the Midwest Forester’s Conclave held in the fall. Last year at the Conclave, UW-SP took fourth place and had never done any sort of timbersports before. There were nine individuals from UW-SP that competed at the Conclave and that number has risen to 18 UW-SP competitors at the Woodchuck Games.
“We have established ourselves in the ranks of collegiate timbersports, whether anybody realizes it or not. Now we have to keep it going,” said Adam LaSalle, a member of SAF who helps train the timbersport competitors.
To participate in UW-SP timbersports, there is no selection process that one has to go through. A meeting was held earlier in the semester for those interested and it was open to any student, not just forestry majors.
“An affinity for sawdust and hard work is recommended, but anyone who came out and practiced with me and demonstrated competency in the events was allowed to compete,” said LaSalle. “We have been training sporadically since last fall, but when this semester came about, there was a group of die-hards that trained with me in my garage. That’s what is needed when starting a competitive timbersports team and that’s what I got.”
The Woodchuck Games aren’t only about competition; they’re a learning experience as well. The UW-SP team is still in its infancy, so there is a lot of training that still needs to take place. During the games, LaSalle and other timbersport veterans were coaching all of the competitors throughout the competition.
“Many of the competitors have never done these events before so that’s why I started training the team in the beginning of the year,” said LaSalle. “Right now, the goal is to maintain interest and friendly competition as opposed to being a hardcore competitive team. I want people to have fun while they do this.”
Some of the events at the Woodchuck Games included crosscut sawing, peavey logrolling, underhand chopping, axe throwing, tree identification and diameter estimation. Crosscut sawing is an event where two individuals use a five-to-six-foot crosscut saw to cut a cookie, or disc of wood, off a log in the shortest amount of time. Peavey logrolling involves competitors using a peavey, which is a wooden bar with a hooked arm and a spike at the end which passes over the log and grips it. The competitors use the peavey to move a 1,000-pound log through a designated course. Underhand chopping is when a competitor stands on top of a log, placed horizontally to the ground, and chops it in half. These are all timed events, with the competitor with the shortest time winning.
The games ended with success for the UW-SP team, ranking first in the games with UW-Madison in second and University of Minnesota ranking third. More than rank, however, LaSalle sees the games as an overall successful experience.
“Quite a bit of organizing was done, which started last May, as well as a very determined group of SAF members who were instrumental to the success of the games,” said LaSalle. “We also had much encouragement from the faculty within the College of Natural Resources.”
For more information on timbersports, contact Adam LaSalle at alasa221@uwsp.edu .
