Just Ask Us: Do curlers use a Zamboni on ice sheets? (2024)

JEFF GLAZE | Wisconsin State Journal | | 608-252-6138

I never saw a Zamboni used on the curling ice during the Olympics. Do they not use the machines on curling sheets?

Contrary to what one might think, smooth ice is a nuisance for curlers.

Unlike hockey, which uses a Zamboni or other brand ice resurfacer to provide a smooth new skating surface, curling requires a rough surface so the rocks slide properly down the ice, said Dae Jean Jahnke, secretary of Madison Curling Club.

“The rocks we push down the sheet have concave bottoms and my understanding is that if the ice surface were completely flat, a vacuum would form under the rock and it would stop moving,” Jahnke said.

Curling sheets are covered in a “pebble” by spraying water onto the surface, which freezes into drops. The end result is a rough, bumpy surface, similar to the texture of an orange peel.

In the place of an ice resurfacer, curlers use a large snow blower-sized device called an ice scraper to level the sheet by removing any remaining pebble.

P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708.