Axe off: Capitol Hill's new axe-throwing experience opens Friday Why throw in the towel when you can throw an axe?

Communications director Jessie Poole demonstrates how to throw an axe at the new axe throwing range opening in Capitol Hill this week, Blade and Timber. The Broadway spot will have throwing lanes available for public and private rental and will eventually serve food and drinks. less Communications director Jessie Poole demonstrates how to throw an axe at the new axe throwing range opening in Capitol Hill this week, Blade and Timber. The Broadway spot will have throwing lanes available for ... more Photo: Genna Martin Photo: Genna Martin Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Axe off: Capitol Hill's new axe-throwing experience opens Friday 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

There's a spot opening on Capitol Hill that's so new we don't even really have a good term for it yet. But, starting Friday, you will be able to cross Broadway Avenue, sign a waver, and throw an axe at the wall.

Welcome to Seattle's first axe-throwing range, Blade and Timber. You could also probably dub it an axe-throwing bar (with bar service and food truck-style menu forthcoming), or an "axe-throwing experience," as the site calls it.

But either way you slice it, the result is the same: like a bowling alley experience, you can rent a lane -- or pay for time at a shared lane, with prices starting at $24 -- and learn to chuck an axe at a bulls eye.

Which is rad -- and, if you can believe it, a growing trend around the country.

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"Axe-throwing, on the whole, is definitely on the rise," Jessie Poole, the communications director for Swell Spark, the company that owns Blade and Timber. And, despite the lumberjack persona that might be associated with it, Poole says that both the coaches who work at Blade and Timber and the visitors who come to try it are pretty varied.

"I taught my 79-year-old grandma how to throw an axe the other day. It took her three tries, and on the third try she nailed the bulls eye."

The Kansas City-based chain was founded by Matt Baysinger and Ryan Henrich, who branched out from the escape rooms they began running four years ago to open their first axe-throwing business in 2017.

Since then, the brand has spread to six cities around the country, with Seattle being the next to open.

Which is, by all accounts, a pretty fast expansion. But axe-throwing is quickly growing in popularity, even if the Blade and Timber folks sort of backed into it.

"We built a lane at our headquarters on the third floor, just tucked away," Henrich said. "So we're trying to figure it out -- there's like, saw blades and spears ... a lot of unusual things."

Henrich said they learned pretty quickly they wouldn't do spears -- those things bounce back at you if it doesn't stick in the wood -- but they continued looking for something where they could bring people together by throwing something at a wall.

Once they settled on axes, they had to figure out how to develop that as an experience. And so the Blade and Timber crew found themselves not just learning to throw axes skillfully, but also how to teach that technique. It took more than a year of development behind the scenes, just testing out their expertise in the one headquarter lane.

"Everyone could teach themselves how to do it, but everyone was doing it differently," Henrich said. "We had to start at the end and work back: the axe needs to spin one time with as least effort as possible."

The result is a finely-tuned training method that one of Blade and Timber's coaches will walk you through when you sign up to throw. After demonstrating the technique, the coach (who will be responsible for two lanes at any given time) will stand back and let you try, staying close in case you need more help -- or advice on how to land that trick shot.

Those coaches come from all walks of life -- Poole said that other locations have employees who are pharmacists or IT workers who just do the job on the side for fun -- but all of them are trained and certified in axe safety, thanks to a program that the Swell Spark team helped develop.

After you've mastered Blade and Timber's basic throw, you can certainly try out your own, provided it abides by the joint's safety standards. But yes, you can underhand, one-hand, or even double throw axes once you're able.

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Which means Blade and Timber has all the makings of a great spot for networking, Mother's Day, or just a regular Wednesday afternoon.

"The fundamental Swell Spark mantra is shared experiences," Poole said. "The big meaningful part of it is we want to bring people together, do something awesome, that they can actually talk about."

Which makes the through line from escape rooms to axe-throwing -- or even their social choir bar elsewhere in the U.S. Sometimes, the best way to crack the ice is to throw an axe.

You can learn more about Blade and Timber at their website.