The lumberjacks are coming to Central Park. Not to cut down trees, but hoping to win a national timbersports title. NY1's Roger Clark filed this report.
If sawing and chopping is your idea of a day in the park, then timbersports is right up your alley.
"Lumberjack sports. Athletes who take traditional logging skills and then put it into a competition like environment," said Brad Sorgen, Executive Producer of Stihl Timbersports. "We film it for television and we are going to declare a U.S. Champion this weekend."
In Central Park of all places, known for its trees but not lumberjack competitions, it's part of the 11th annual Adventures NYC, where the Parks Department gives New Yorkers a chance to experience the great outdoors within the five boroughs.
"We have 10,000 areas of natural areas, but you can enjoy some of those great activities right here in the park," said Mitchell Silver, Parks Commissioner.
And see demonstrations from the Stihl Timbersports folks near the Central Park bandshell, including log rolling, the springboard and the single buck log cut, which I gave the old college try.
They wouldn't even let me near the axe. And for good reason. Check out the skills of some of these lumberjack athletes as they are known. Nathan Waterfield was a top finisher in the U.S. Championship last year, and will be one of the two dozen timber athletes chopping and sawing in central Park this weekend.
"All of these events are adrenaline rush sprint races," said Waterfield.
The Stihl Timbersports series is celebrating 30 years of competition, but this is the first time the U.S. Championship is being held in America's largest city.
"When you start watching guys who have perfected this craft and they're racing and beating each other by tenths or even less than a second," said Waterfield.
For more information on all of the Adventures NYC activities, including Stihl Timbersports U.S. Championship, just head to nyc.gov/parks orstihltimbersports.com.