Jacks and Jills
As Brian Boerjan began to chop at his log, he swung his axe, cutting through his shoes and into his foot, rather than the wood.
This one stray swing of the axe in the hard-hit, an event in which a competitor chops at a piece of wood horizontally, added extra excitement to the third Annual East Coast Lumberjack Roundup Saturday.
‘When I finish my last event I’m going to the hospital,’ said Boerjan a sophomore wildlife science major in State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. ‘I probably need like three stitches in my foot.’
The third Annual East Cost Lumberjack Roundup was hosted by SUNY-ESF, with an audience of hundreds.
The free event showcased numerous schools, including Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC), SUNY Cobleskill and Paul Smith’s College, in events similar to The Great Outdoor Games on ESPN.
Paul Smith’s College was the overall winner in both the men’s and women’s events, with 1150.56 and 1063.58 points, respectively.
‘They won a trophy,’ said Ian Freeburg, the captain of the ESF Woodsmen Team, of the winning team. ‘And the bragging rights for a whole year I guess.’
‘The individual event winners from women’s and men’s events won a mug,’ he said.
FLCC took home second place for the men’s team with 914.46 points, and ESF’s women’s team took second with 914.22 points.
Events were divided into four categories: Team, singles, doubles and triples, according to the ESF Woodsmen Web site. A team of woodsmen consists of either six males (jacks), six females (jills) or three males and three females.
The Lumberjack Roundup was a full-day competition with events including the axe throw, obstacle poll, fire build, vertical and horizontal chops and pulp toss.
Usually a meet takes up the entire day and has each member of the team participating in four team events – one singles event and one doubles event with another teammate.
Spring meets can take up two days, with each member participating in five team events: one singles events, one doubles event, one triple event and a canoeing event.
Gerry Towne, a junior in forest research management at ESF has traveled as far as Nova Scotia for this type of outdoor game and saw the experience as a positive competition rather than a cut-throat struggle for glory.
‘There’s not much harshness between our teams,’ he said. ‘It’s run by fellow woodsmen too, so we run it how we like.’
The tools of the trade do not come cheap either, Towne said.
Smaller axes can run between $300 and $400 a piece with a $50 sharpening charge. Bow-saw blades typically cost $350 with a $150 sharpening charge and cross-cut saws go for $1,500 a piece with a $300 to $400 sharpening charge.
‘The axes are specially made for competitions,’ he said. ‘We have the axes bought over the years, and usually we keep them sharp, but we usually send them off to professional sharpeners to sharpen them for us.’
The event has been rising in popularity, especially in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, he said, but is also making its way into Europe.
Towne had advice for anyone interested in becoming a lumberjack or jill.
‘To be a professional, you should have the height, the build and the form, but in the collegiate you just need form,’ he explained. ‘It’s just a lot of practice.’
Jess Goblet, a SUNY Cobeskill third year majoring in animal science, was one of the women competing during the weekend.
‘I knew some of the guys on the team, and that’s how I got started, and then we just recruited other girls from there,’ she said.
On average, the Cobleskill team practices three times a week, with daily practice as an event approaches, Goblet said.
Part of the sport’s appeal is it is not what most would consider mainstream, Goblet said.
‘It’s so different, and it’s not something that you hear about every day,’ she said.
‘A lot of people don’t know about it, and a lot of people don’t consider it something that is an actual sport because at our college we’re not considered an athletic team, we’re considered an athletic club, so we don’t get a lot of support from our college,’ she said.
John Clark, a resident of Rochester who came to the event sporting a genuine raccoon hat, was interested in the contests because of its real-life leanings. Clark’s girlfriend competed in the annual event.
‘I like the axe throwing because it’s kind of something that you don’t have to be a lumberjack to do,’ he said. ‘The fire starting is pretty intense because it’s actually, I think, really the most useful event that anyone who goes camping could do.’
Clark, who watched each event from the sidelines, seemed to embody the excitement that surrounded the event.
‘A lot of times what’s cool about it is the teams are competitive among themselves but not with anybody else,’ he said. ‘A lot of teams are cheering their opponents on just because everyone wants to do good. It’s all pretty low key.’
Published on April 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm
