Lochie and his mum Raewyn Windley both compete. Photo:
Sawdust and shavings carpet the ground in the Windley home woodchopping ring, where mother and son sharpen their skills for a South Island showdown.
From the bush to the back paddock, competitive woodchopping spans three generations of the family tree.
Raewyn Windley followed her father into the sport at the age of 12 and is now one of the country's top timbersports athletes, just as her teenage son Lochie Windley carves out a name for himself.
The pair will represent Canterbury at the South Island Championships in Waimate this weekend, when Raewyn Windley will defend her titles in the Jack and Jill and Jill and Jill divisions, and chase wins in the single-saw and underhand disciplines.
The 38-year-old teacher holds half-a-dozen New Zealand records and a world Jack and Jill title.
She said she had found most success in partner sawing.
"If you and your partner aren't in unison it makes it very hard work, but once you gel and you get it going and the saw is just flowing effortlessly, it's like slicing butter," Windley said.
"I'm not such a big fan of doing it by myself, they call the single saw the misery whip, I have a very love/hate relationship with that."
Windley won her world title in Jack and Jill sawing with Robert Dowling in Tasmania in 2019, slicing through a 400-millimetre slab of mountain ash in just 8.92 seconds.
Woodchopping is an exercise in explosive power and precision, and split-seconds count, she said.
"When you're in those really high-pressure situations where the race is really on, it's the adrenaline kick you get and the rush that comes from finishing the race," she said.
Her son Lochie Windley is one of Aotearoa's up-and-coming axemen, having recently made the New Zealand under-21 team at the age of just 15.
"This year has been his year. He has just absolutely flourished into an awesome young woodchopper and sawyer," Windley said.
"Probably a season or so ago he left me in the dust."
The Canterbury team hopes to retain the South Island inter-provincial woodchopping trophy, the prestigious Curtain Cup, in Waimate this weekend.
While the prospect of a local mother-and-son match-up was exciting, Windley said the chance to share the world woodchopping stage would be the ultimate mark of success.
"To have a mother and son in New Zealand teams would be amazing. I would love for him to pair up with me at the royal shows, or even for a world title, hopefully that's something we can do together," she said.
Lochie Windley, who specialises in the underhand chop, said he hoped to emulate or even surpass his mother's achievements in the sport.
"That would be pretty fun, going on trips with my mum representing New Zealand in woodchopping," he said.
"Getting a world title and hopefully maintaining it for a few years, that's the ultimate goal."
Raewyn Windley was also among 10 women competing at the Stihl Timbersports New Zealand Ladies Championship in Palmerston North on Friday, for the chance to represent the country overseas.
In Waimate, she will meet Canterbury's Emma Shaw who is returning to competitive woodchopping just four months after the birth of her daughter Heidi.
When Emma Shaw first entered the Timbersports championship she had only just learnt to single saw and use a chainsaw. Photo: Photosport/ Stihl Timbersports
The 32-year-old nurse started woodchopping four years ago, inspired by her partner Reuben Carter who has been involved in the sport since the age of 11.
"We'd go round to all of the A&P shows and watch him woodchopping, and I thought if I have to sit here all day watching I might as well give it a go," she said.
Shaw said she liked the technical aspects of the sport - sharp angles, smooth wood and speed - and the competitors' camaraderie.
She specialised in the underhand discipline, in which competitors chop a horizontal block in two with blows that land between the feet, and single and double-sawing.
Emma Shaw competing in the Jack and Jill sawing with her partner Reuben Carter. Photo: Supplied / Emma Shaw
The first time Shaw entered the Timbersports championship in Palmerston North in 2021, she finished third.
"I wasn't expecting that at all. I was relatively new to the sport and had just learnt to single saw and use a chainsaw, so that was a big moment of realising that I can do something if I put my mind to it," she said.
Shaw said her pre-competition training involved strength and cardio workouts at the gym, woodchopping practice in the paddock at home and a few pointers from helpful friends in the game.
"I don't feel as strong as I was before I had Heidi, but that's alright. We'll get there nice and slowly," she said.
"She comes out with us. We put in her in the pushchair and she watches us.
"It's a really nice family-oriented sport and there's a really nice culture among the competitors. That's what I like about it, that camaraderie and friendship and everyone is willing to help foster the new people coming through."
