Harry’s Adventures: Throwing axes could be your idea of fun
xes remind me of a grimly scowling Carrie Nation brandishing them to smash up saloons. No fun there.
What she should have done is tossed them at targets. Then, maybe some photos would exist of her flashing at least the slightest hint of a smile every once in a while.
You probably have heard rumors of recreational axe throwing, and yes, they’re true. A business called Lumberjaxes, for example, opened late last year in Millvale. And flinging hatchets has caught on to the point that the owners have embarked on two more such ventures, one in Arizona and the latest in Mt. Lebanon.
To give the activity a try, I drove through tunnels and over bridges to the original location, lacking much prior knowledge besides the involvement of steel-bladed chopping tools.
What I found was kind of like a cross between darts and a bowling alley “without the silly shoes,” as Lumberjaxes website puts it. “And with way more axes.”
The venue, which used to be a machine shop, contains 20 targets with bull’s eyes smack in the middle and protective screening separating each throwing area. While I hadn’t exactly envisioned a free-for-all of flying wood and metal, I found the well-organized setup to be reassuring as I prepared for my first attempt.
One of the Lumberjaxes owners, Corey Deasy – he and his partners, Matt Peyton and Jack Welsh, all hail from Greenfield – clued me in on the business and then provided a detailed description of how to throw an axe effectively.
It starts with the grip, of course. Folks who are right-handed, as I am, grasp the handle near the bottom with the right hand, and place the left over the right. Put the left foot forward, and then lean toward the target.
“Bring it straight back over your head, all the way back, as far as you can take it,” Corey said. “And then you come straight back through, release and follow through.”
OK, here goes.
Bonk. Clank, clank. Oops.
So, how long does it usually take for someone to land the axe inside the target instead of on the floor?
“You know what? Some people stick it on their first throw,” Corey told me. “Some people, it takes 30 throws.”
Oh, great. I figured I’d probably end up in that 30-something club.
We started making adjustments. He had me back up a bit for each toss, explaining that the farther away I was from the target, the more the axe would be able to rotate. And that meant the point at the top of the blade was more likely to embed itself, rather than bouncing away.
Still, on subsequent tosses I kept hearing that clatter on the floor while cheering and clapping emanated from other parts of the building.
“You’re super close to sticking,” Corey reassured me after about half a dozen attempts.
“I’m gonna try to bring it a little bit more,” I told him, rearing back and then putting what remains of my muscles into the delivery.
Boom.
“Yaaaaaah!” I reacted as if I’d sunk a 20-foot putt.
A little while later: “Ah-haaaaaaaaaaa!” That was me after seeing that I’d nailed the bull’s eye.
Yes, I was excited. After attempting to water ski and not quite getting the hang of it, I was worried about a similar situation at Lumberjaxes. But I kept up the good work and even added another bull’s eye to wrap up the introductory session’s proceedings.
I’m looking forward to giving axe throwing another try, competitively next time. The scoring is fairly simple: five points for landing the blade inside the bull’s eye, three for the red ring surrounding that, and one for the outermost, blue ring.
Oh, and there are two small green circles above the rings called Clutches, worth seven and serving as a “Hail Mary” shot of sorts.
That’s all per a standard system of rules established by the National Axe Throwing Federation, which has been around since 2016. A standard axe, by the way, must weigh between 1.25 and 1.75 pounds, with a wooden handle at least 13 inches long and a blade width of no more than 4 inches.
I’m not sure if Mrs. Nation’s hatchets met those guidelines, but she doesn’t strike me as the type who would have felt obliged to play by the rules.
The Mt. Lebanon location of Lumberjaxes is located at 1689 McFarland Road. For more information, call 412.408.2650 or visit axethrowingpgh.com.