Don’t expect to have a smooth skate on a curling rink (2024)

FAQs

Is curling ice rough? ›

Curling ice is kept intentionally rough by a specialist who more or less hand-pebbles the ice's surface. So important is getting the surface right, that Olympics organizers hired Hans Wuthrich, a Canadian ice technician who's so high-profile that he may be the only ice-maker who has his own Wikipedia page.

Rink - A team of four curlers. Also, the building in which the game is played. Roll - The direction a moving stone takes after it hits another stationary stone. Rub - When a moving stone barely touches another stationary stone. ( Less contact than a chip)

It's all about minimizing friction! Whether you find it between the ice and the puck —or the ice and a skate blade— friction slows everything down. If you're looking for speed (and want to avoid snags), you're looking for a smooth surface... and that's what Zambonis are for!

Curling ice is approximately 3 centimetres thick and is not a smooth surface, but pebbled with bumps of ice. The ideal temperature for curling ice is between −3° C and −7° C.

The sheet of curling ice is not smooth but “pebbled,” a result of spraying with a fine mist of water that leaves tiny bumps as it freezes. This allows the stones to slide more easily because the contact of the stone is only with the top of the bumps, reducing friction.

Pushing the curling stone is a doozy. It takes a lot of coordination, which I certainly don't have. You have to lead with one foot, while moving your opposite arm and wrist, and then let that stone go — all within seconds. I fell more than once trying to master this part of the game.

Some of the most common commands heard are “hurry,” which means to sweep as fast as possible; “whoa,” which means to stop sweeping; and “yup,” which means to sweep.

The No-Tick Shot rule states that rocks touching the centre line in the Free Guard Zone cannot be removed off the centre line until the sixth stone of an end. The World Curling Federation also uses the No-Tick Shot rule for all of its international events. Here is the official wording of the rule via Curling Canada.

This season the World Curling Federation has adopted the “five rock rule” to open each end, extended from the “four rock rule,” essentially allowing an additional stone in play before rocks in the Free Guard Zone can be removed from play.

The first ice resurfacer was developed by American inventor and engineer Frank Zamboni in 1949 in Paramount, California. As such, an ice resurfacer is often referred to as a "Zamboni" as a genericized trademark.

What does a Zamboni cost? ›

As the sizes and options of the Zamboni machines vary greatly according to each ice arena's individual needs, so does the price. The Model 100 (a small tractor pulled unit) may be in the neighborhood of $10,000.00 or more and the full-sized machines can be up to or in the low six figures.

Regularly flood your rink with a layer of water—an ice resurfacer and a thin layer of hot water will help you create a smooth surface. The ideal temperature to flood your ice is between -7 and -20 degrees Celsius.

Curling – the temperature should be 25F (-3C) Hockey – the temperature should be 22F to 25F (-5.5C to -3C) Figure Skating – the temperature should be 24F to 29F (-4.5C to -1.6C)

The centre of each house, at the intersection of the centre line and the tee line, is known as the button. Two hog lines are drawn 21 feet from the centre of the tee line. The hacks are fixed behind each button; a hack gives the thrower something to push against when making the throw.

Skip - The skip is the captain of the team and decides the strategy. It's the skip's job to tell the other players where to throw their shots and when to sweep. The skip also delivers the last two shots of the end.

They have a small ring that acts like a suction cup, and curling ice has to have texture so that the rock can slide farther. That means making sure the ice has tiny bubbles on it. To do that, ice techs carry backpacks with water and custom-made water nozzles to spray thousands of droplets onto the ice.

The pebbled ice surface resembles an orange peel, and the stone moves on top of the pebbled ice. The pebble, along with the concave bottom of the stone, decreases the friction between the stone and the ice, allowing the stone to travel farther.

Skating ice and natural ice tends to be smooth. With any moisture at all on it, it becomes very slippery. Curling ice, on the other hand, is “pebbled” by sprinkling little drops of water over the surface.

The playing surface or curling sheet is a rectangular area of ice, carefully prepared to be as flat and level as possible, 146 to 150 feet in length by 14.2 to 15.7 feet in width. The shorter borders of the sheet are called the backboards.