Teams of lumberjacks and jills showed up this Saturday to show off their skills in the fourth annual East Coast Lumberjack Roundup.
In front of a crowd of about 150, five lumberjack teams from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Pennsylvania State University, Paul Smith's College, SUNY Cobleskill and Finger Lakes Community College competed in several events including pole climbing, chain sawing and fire building. The competition took place at ESF's Lafayette Road Experiment Station, a few miles from campus.
"I've been to this four times now, and this was the smoothest I've seen it run," said Brian Boerjan, an ESF '08 alumnus and Roundup veteran.
The ESF woodsmen women's team placed first in the event, and the men's team was second overall behind Paul Smith's College.
The competition consisted of singles, doubles and full team men's and women's events, which took place over the course of the day, said Laura Hahn, a senior natural history and interpretation major who was part of the event last year but did not compete in the roundup this time.
Hahn said the event opened with the Pledge of Allegiance lead by ESF President Cornelius Murphy, who then took part in a cross cut competition with the president of the woodsmen, Lonni Petersen.
From there, teams competed in their respective singles events, such as dendrology, where a member from each team had to correctly identify local trees.
After the singles events, teams took part in the doubles and team competitions, which were scattered throughout the day, Hahn said.
The last events of the day were the chopping events, including the vertical and horizontal chops, which are named for the positioning of the logs, Boerjan said. He accidentally axed his foot during an event last year, but he managed to complete the contest before going to the hospital.
For Hahn, the chopping events were the high point of the day.
"They were the best because it's head to head," he said. "It's team going against team."
Aside from the competitive nature of the event, it was about more than winning and losing for those like Raymond Filley, a junior environmental communications major.
"It's definitely competitive," he said. "But we're having fun."
sdoane@syr.edu
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