Throw away your darts, and pick up your hatchets; Axe & Grind is bringing a cutting edge to downtown Victoria.
Axe & Grind is Victoria’s first axe-throwing club, and it opened its doors to the public today at 910 Government St.
The new facility is a business partnership between Katie DeRosa and Danny Hamilton.
The pair jumped into things pretty quick, as DeRosa only discovered axe-throwing in Vancouver just last October.
“She thought it was an amazing idea,” Hamilton says.
Axe throwing has its origins in Eastern Canada starting about 10 years ago, and has since exploded to other parts of the country, the United States, and even Europe.
Despite the growing popularity elsewhere, “it’s a quintessential Canadian sport,” Hamilton says.
Similar to darts, players throw their axes at a painted ring on a wooden board, with each ring having an assigned point value.
A single match between two people is played as follows:
- There are 10 throws per match.
- Players take five throws then switch sides to ensure fair play when there’s varying density in wood.
- The winner of the match will be the person with the most points after 10 throws.
- Sudden death occurs in the event of a tie after 10 throws. Players will throw again (11th time), and the winner will be the person that scores the higher points during that throw. If both players tie again, they must continue with sudden death throws until there is a winner.
Players are allowed to throw an axe with one or two hands over or behind the head, and throw from a distance of 12 feet.
If it sounds like a lot of fun, that’s probably because it is.
Axe & Grind encourages everyone looking for a unique way to spend a birthday, corporate party, bachelor or bachelorette party, or any special occasion to come check it out.
Axe & Grind is also an official member of the World Axe Throwing League, so Hamilton says to keep an eye out for upcoming league events and competitions “very soon.”
Axe & Grind is open Tuesday to Saturday from 1 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Customers must be 14 years of age and older, and larger groups are encouraged to book ahead online.
“If you have a bad day and want to get something off your chest, come on down,” Hamilton says. “It feels great.”
