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Video: Axe-throwing entrepreneurs hope to cut down on boredom in the Shuswap

Coaching from Cedar Axe Throwing’s owners can help anyone throw like a pro
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Dale Coulombe and Marina Sanchez are bringing their new business, Cedar Axe Throwing, to the Shuswap. (Jim Elliot/Salmon Arm Observer)

Hatchets lofted through the air make a satisfying whump as they stick into painted log targets.

A pair of entrepreneurs, Dale Coulombe and Marina Sanchez, look forward to hearing that sound throughout the Shuswap with the launch of their new business, Cedar Axe Throwing.

Coulombe and Sanchez’s vision is to bring the fun of axe throwing to backyard barbecues and other indoor and outdoor events with portable throwing lanes. The two have been at their new business venture since early May and say they have already received rave reviews from those who have rented out the lanes.

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Unlike similar operations, Cedar Axe Throwing’s targets are not actually attached to the trailer they are transported on, allowing them to set up in outdoor spaces where a trailer cannot be backed into and even indoors. Coulombe said using rubber mats to protect the floor, axe throwing could be a fun addition to an indoor event at a community centre or large garage. The targets are mounted inside a metal cage ensuring no one is harmed by wayward blades.

Along with setting up and tearing down the axe throwing targets, Coulombe and Sanchez, both practiced hands with the hatchets, offer coaching to get people throwing right on target and make sure everyone stays safe.

“We can pretty much coach anyone,” Coulombe said.

“It’s kind of like throwing darts but you get a much bigger ego push if you hit the bulls-eye with an axe.”

Coulombe and Sanchez said once the mechanics of the throw have been mastered, minimal arm strength is required and even someone in a wheel chair could learn to hit the bulls-eye.

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The minimum age for throwers is 10-years-old.

Coulombe and Sanchez said along with private functions they are eager to set up at public events, particularly those that support charitable causes. They are finalizing details to set up at the Plaid for Dad prostate cancer fundraiser on June 15 at Centenoka Park Mall.

Cedar Axe Throwing currently offers a variety of one-handed hatchets but would like to add other implements like two-handed axes, throwing knives and stars.

They hope to one day expand to a brick-and-mortar location which Coulombe said they envision as an “action pub,” with other games along with the axe throwing.

More information is available at www.cedaraxethrowing.com.


@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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17141249_web1_copy_20190603-SAA-Axe-Throwing-JE-053
Dale Coulombe and Marina Sanchez are bringing their new business, Cedar Axe Throwing, to the Shuswap. (Jim Elliot/Salmon Arm Observer)


Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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