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CORVALLIS - Gary Williamson grew up fishing and hunting on a fifth-generation ranch on the Umpqua River, but he's happiest when swinging a razor-sharp axe between his legs as the crowd cheers.

This 20-year-old forestry student at Oregon State University works with massive cross-cuts and monstrous chain saws in the increasingly popular sport of timber competition. And he's good at it.

Williamson recently won every event in the Stihl Challenge at the Western Forestry Clubs Conclave, a competition among college students from a seven-state western region in which he showed off his prowess with the "stock saw," single buck and underhand speed chop.

And he will move on in August as one of a select group of about half a dozen competitors to the college national championship in Louisiana.

Williamson plans a career in wood science and engineering, but has already decided to ask a future employer to give him time off to pursue this new-found passion at the professional level.

"I've always loved every kind of sport, grew up playing baseball, football, track, basketball," the OSU junior said. "But this is like a track meet in the woods. It's a real rush, just gets in your blood."

The sport is not without its risks and the monetary rewards, even at the professional level, are only moderate. Competitors have chopped off toes, suffered other injuries, even fallen to their deaths. But on both the East Coast and West Coast, and a few other countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, timber sports events are still gaining in popularity, Williamson said. About 100,000 people attended the recent Great Outdoor Games in Madison, Wis. And many colleges, including OSU, have forestry clubs that meet regularly for competitions.

Williamson said he came to the sport late, but fell in love with it. It combines speed, strength, precision and perfect form, along with the ever-present danger of chain saws or flashing blades.

"I first saw some of these competitions on TV when I was in grade school, that's when it sort of captured my imagination and I swore I had to try it someday," he said. "Then when I attended OSU and got involved in the Forestry Club, it turned out I was pretty good at it."

The sport has a terminology not typical to the average football or baseball fan, with equipment like the "hot saw" - a modified chain saw that can be powered by anything up to an automobile V-8 engine. Or "jack and jill saw" - a male-female team pulling a seven-foot crosscut saw, the type used a century ago to harvest huge old-growth trees.

Competitors may do "tree climbing" at heights up to 90 feet or just show off their skills in various chopping events with an incredibly sharp axe. There are about 20 professional competitions each year in Oregon, Williamson said, and many others around the country. The college national championship in August, which is associated with a professional competition, will be televised nationally.

Williamson is often competing or practicing - during winter break, he adjourned for more training in Australia to work out with one of the leading competitors in the world. He's also an innovator, working with another professional to build his own "hot saw" out of a YZ 250CC motorcycle engine. He helps coach his teammates as captain of the OSU Logging Sports Team. And in between, he's earning a degree in the Department of Wood Science and Engineering at OSU, and may make a career in the evolving field of wood fiber chemistry and composite products.

"I'm good at this in the college competitions, but frankly I'm just getting started for the levels the pros compete at," Williamson said. "But I'm going to give it a try."