By Jonathan Guignard -
ADVOCATE STAFF
Many of us have heard the stereotype that every Canadian is a lumberjack, but the truth is the majority of us have never seen one.
I got the opportunity to become a little more familiar on what it means to be a lumberjack, when I visited the Wood Shed in Sylvan Lake on Saturday to take aim at axe throwing.
Until that point, I wasn’t aware that a place like this existed but let me say it “axceeded” my expectation.
“It’s been more popular in Eastern Canada, but it’s been slowly making it’s way over here,” said said Cole Smith, Wood Shed manager. “There’s one in Calgary and Edmonton, but we’re the only one in Central Alberta. We have a lot of people from Red Deer coming out to try it, not just Sylvan Lake.”
Essentially, it’s a lot like playing darts. However, instead of firing darts, you’re firing axes. Sounds fun, right?
The target has three rings including a bull’s-eye and each ring is worth points. The outside ring is worth one point, the inner ring is worth three points and the bull’s-eye is worth five points.
There are also two small green circles above the target worth seven points that can only be thrown at on a person’s final throw of the game.
The Wood Shed has been open since Sept. 24, 2016 and like any other new business, the company has had its ups and downs.
“We’ve had busy days where we have every lane full and we’ve had days that aren’t as good, but we’re in that moment of trying to get the word out,” said Smith.
There’s no question the idea of throwing axes is pretty exciting and what’s really nice about it is that the sport doesn’t discriminate.
Smith said for the most part, everybody seems to be able to do it.
“We had one person who had a really hard time with it, but even then we finally got her to stick a few and she was really happy about it,” he said.
The Wood Shed also plans on beginning league play sometime in January.
To learn more about axe throwing visit www.woodshedaxe.ca.
jonathan.guignard@www.reddeeradvocate.com