About Campus
West Coast Choppers
A distinctive Cal Poly student club teaches members about leadership and team-building — and how to wield an axe.
By Gabby Ferreira
Photos by Joe Johnston // Video by Dylan Head
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Team member Zach Pellow practices the obstacle pole event.
On Friday afternoons, a field on the edge of campus comes alive with activity. The sounds of chopping and sawing ring out as the Cal Poly Loggers meet for their weekly practice, working on various skills including axe throwing, climbing, double buck saw, obstacle pole and chopping.
The club, which is open to all, attracts a variety of students who want to try their hand at something different. Many students start with no knowledge of timber sports. But the team works together, with veteran members patiently teaching the newbies and setting them up for success.
Cal Poly Loggers practice for an upcoming competition.
“The team is self-coached, which means that more experienced members teach the less experienced,” said natural resources management and environmental science professor Samantha Gill, who advises the club. “You really need to understand how to do something in order to teach someone else.”
Ronja McArthur, a second-year environmental protection and management student, said she found out about the team at the club fair during her freshman year. She saw team members wielding chainsaws and thought, “I gotta check this out.”
“I come out here because I like the community, as well as the more outdoorsy and ridiculous aspects of it,” said McArthur, who competes as a climber, scrambling up 80-foot poles. “This club has also taught me some practical skills.”
It’s a surprisingly warm group for how intimidating the sport is. I love the community. People are so eager to teach you.
Team member Sam Wilton competes in the horizontal speed chop event at the 86th Annual AWFC Conclave.
Political science student Libby Bowie said she heard about Cal Poly Loggers from her roommate freshman year and got curious enough to go see what it was about. Now she serves as the team’s social media manager and competes in pole climbing and double buck, an event that involves racing to cut horizontal logs with a massive two-person saw.
“The first time I swung an axe, I was terrified. It took me about a month to start a chainsaw,” Bowie said. “Logging was totally unlike anything I’d done before coming to Cal Poly.”
Outside of learning new sports, team members also develop interpersonal skills and gain experience in handling logistics, since the team and its events are entirely student-run.
This April, they hosted the annual Association of Western Forestry Clubs (AWFC) Logging Conclave. As opposed to other universities that have hosted the conference in the past, Cal Poly is up against a key logistical challenge: the local supply of lumber on the Central Coast, which pales in comparison to schools in Northern California and other areas in the West.
“Wood is the biggest and most nerve-wracking factor. There are not a lot of truckers hauling logs,” said Joe Carniglia, the team president and fourth-year forestry and fire science student. “We have to dig around a little bit.”
First photo: Team member Daniel Auten competes in the vertical hard hit chopping event at the 86th Annual AWFC Conclave. Second photo: Team member Amelia Lee completes a match-cut while practicing for the power saw event. Third photo: Two students practice working together with a double buck saw.
Some of the events the team competes in have historical roots, such as using a cross-cut saw, according to Gill. But some skills, like learning how to use a chainsaw, are still used in the logging industry today. And of course, students are educated on how to use the tools safely, along with personal protective equipment.
“In addition to team-building skills, officers especially learn many leadership and communication skills that will serve them well in any career,” Gill said. Many team members said it’s a great way to secure internships, summer jobs and even permanent work after college.
Cal Poly Loggers compete against timbersport teams from other universities at the recent AWFC Conclave, hosted at Cal Poly.
“There’s a lot of industry involved in timber sports. It helps build connections,” Carniglia said, adding that professionals will come to competitions and participate as judges. “I attribute my ability to get jobs to having timber sports on my resume.”
But the best part of the club is the camaraderie.
“It’s a surprisingly warm group for how intimidating the sport is,” said Caitlyn Sullivan, a fourth-year forestry and fire science student. “I love the community. People are so eager to teach you.”
Carniglia said he’d encourage anyone who’s curious about the team to put themselves out there.
“You don’t know you’re good at timber sports before you try it and it just clicks,” Carniglia said. “Don’t let people intimidate you. Come say hi.”
The Cal Poly Loggers gather in a circle and cheer at the AWFC Logging Conclave, a regional competition that was held at Cal Poly in April.
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