writer traveler photographer

Addendum … AXEperience!

1sm

It was bound to happen. There was so much stuff going on every day that I missed writing up an entire event. AXETHROWING! So, backing up to July 27th  … that evening, Carol Jacquard and Alex Doyle travelled with me to Darren Hudson’s Lumberjack AXEperience in Barrington where his partner, Susie Atwood, runs a women’s axe-throwing league on Monday nights.

2smHere, we learned the fine art of throwing an axe. Too funny. We were having so much fun we didn’t mind a light shower followed by an onslaught of mosquitoes. Must have scared them off tho’ as they didn’t hang around for long.

Throwing axes is the best stress buster going. We likely got rid of a few folks in our lives including sociopaths and politicians. Aside from having a blast, we picked up some pointers on the art of throwing an axe.

  1. Hold the handle in a golf grip, with both thumbs up.
  2. Have one foot in front of the other.
  3. Practice a rocking motion from back foot to front foot.
  4. Bring the axe straight back over your head.
  5. Keep your eyes on the bulls eye and release the axe when your arms are at a 45 degree angle forward over your head.

7smIf you hit the center circle in the 28 in. target, it’s worth 5 points. The other circles moving outwards is worth 4, 3, 2 points respectively.

In the first half hour there were lots of “Oops,” Phooeys” and “#^!@%Y!” as we missed the axes flew over, under and to the side of the targets. But slowly, slowly, we started to get the hang of it. Susie kept prodding us on with encouraging remarks like “Nice arc!” and “Great form!”

This is all part of the lumberjack experience people can plug into here. But first, a little background information.

Darren Hudson is a fifth generation Canadian lumberjack. He’s also a 7-time World and 12-time Canadian Log Rolling Champion who’s on a mission to keep the lumberjack tradition alive.  He’s operates a professional tree removing service but three years ago, he decided to move home  to Barrington and build a lumberjack park and provide experiences to visitors and local of all ages.

8smIt didn’t take long to garner some attention. In fact, the star of the CBC Rick Mercer Show saw a clip of Darren on the National News one night and thought “Hey, I would like to do that!” Then he said, “Hey, I have my own show. I can do that!” The filming was hilarious. You can check it out here.

In his spare time  Darren is setting up the Canadian Axe Throwing Association, which he hopes will streamline the sport and create more opportunities. Ultimately, his goal is to see this sport as part of the Olympics. “Why not?” muses the 38 year-old. “Targets can now be reproduced, axes standardized, and distances can be regulated. There is potential to grow this sport to the highest level,” he says with a grin. “Everything’s in motion.”

 

Meanwhile, Susie continues to give women tips and lead the leagues on Monday nights. Two hours flies by in no time. Want to go?

6sm

 

2 Comments

  1. Rose-Marie Rose-Marie
    September 30, 2015    

    Sandra, you discover the most amazing people and events. Hope you publish the whole series.

    • September 30, 2015    

      Yes, I meet many characters on my wee journeys … hope to work this into some kind of a book … fingers crossed Rose-Marie!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome! This is where I occasionally post a story that's not filed under My Work ... or give a behind-the-scenes commentary (when fit to publish.) You'll also find notices about upcoming workshops, such as memoir or travel writing. Enjoy your visit and come back often. Better yet, subscribe!

EDITORS, please click on My Work and Photo Gallery in the menu bar to get the big picture of what I do.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.