Down a winding, gravelly road off Lafayette Street in Syracuse, past a small greenhouse and into the forest, a towering light illuminates a section of the woods.

The sound of quick ax chops and roaring buzz saws are heard from behind trees.  “Shipping up to Boston” and other rock songs play through a speaker — but the music’s not quite loud enough to drown out the friendly conversation.

The conversations are carried out by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Woodsmen Team, the oldest student organization at ESF. With roots dating back to 1912, the Woodsmen, or timber, team practices old-time logging techniques and attends timber competitions three times a semester.

The current Woodsmen didn’t have prior experience before joining the team, but they’re now working toward an end-of-the-year competition that includes many different events. Former ESF Woodsmen member and first-year head coach Jason Schenck — who also didn’t have any experience before joining the team — can’t help but smile when explaining how timber sports got their start.

“The story behind it is lumberjack guys would come back from work and get drunk and see who could chop their log the fastest,” Schenck said.

Now the ESF timber team has 40 members, all of whom first started the sport as college students. Some pick up the sport faster than others, such as senior Mitch Hooker, who grew up doing outdoor activities.

Hooker and his father have built rooms in his Richfield Springs, New York, home and cabins for local hunting clubs, which has helped him excel at timber sports.

“I grew up just going out with my dad for as long as I can remember, helping him split wood,” Hooker said.  “That’s what I came home expecting to do … it wasn’t a chore for me.”

For other members, like senior Kelley Corbine, the decision to join the timber team came as a bit of a shock to her family and friends.

Corbine figure skated her whole life, far different from chopping wood or balancing on a spinning log.

“I kind of went from figure skates and dresses to axes,” Corbine said.

Schenck, a native of Auburn, New York, helps inexperienced athletes prepare for unfamiliar events.

Those include chopping 2-foot blocks of wood with an ax (“the chop”), climbing a pole 60 feet with metal spikes (“poling”) and balancing while standing on a giant log in the water (“burling”).

At practice, his eyes are glued to his team as he yells directions to properly rip an ax through a pine woodblock as fast as possible.

“The ax cuts better at a 45-degree angle,” Schenck said. “It’s the most efficient way to cut through the wood … I can tell just by hearing the ax hit the wood whether it was a good hit or a bad hit.”

Corbine placed first in a triples chop competition event last year and Hooker can cut through a 4-foot block in 15 seconds.

A former hockey and lacrosse player, Corbine said woodsmen is not just about playing offense and defense but perfecting skills like throwing, chopping and cutting. Hooker, who played baseball and soccer in high school, said that the atmosphere is more laid back — but it does get intense right before competitions.

One of those competitions is the annual spring meet, which Corbine likens to the Super Bowl of timber sports. The event, which lasts all day and draws around 400 fans, is usually the last competition of the season and a final opportunity for players to test the skills they’ve learned.

But until the spring meet, the woodsmen will continue practicing in their small section of the woods, even when winter snow covers the ground and temperatures drop below freezing.

The team will shovel out the snow and sounds of buzz saws and ax chops will then be met with the crackling of a fire. And when the winter ends, the team will leave the forest and showcase its work on a bigger stage.

“A lot of fans don’t see it a ton so even if you do bad, they don’t care,” Hooker said.  “When you’re swinging a razor sharp ax between your legs, it’s always cool.”

Published on September 23, 2014 at 12:14 am