Quebec Curling

[ccga3359]

I just did a google for curling and then tried it tied to California and came up empty for the southern end..... seems like it would be a neat thing to go watch.

Does anyone curl on artificial surfaces? Or is there a special stone that could be used on a basketball court?

Might that thing slide on a highly waxed surface?

In short no I don't think so. The rocks are 44lbs of granite and this snippit from our friend Wiki (I can hear Todd wincing) states:

Playing surface

The playing area in curling is shown here. Rocks must land between the hog line (bottom of photo) and the back line (behind the rings) and between the boards or out lines (on the sides).The curling sheet, by World Curling Federation standards, is an area of ice 146 feet (45.50 m) in length by 14 feet 2 inches (4.32 m) to 16 feet 5 inches (5.00 m) in width,[2] carefully prepared to be as close to level as possible. The ice is most often artificially refrigerated by means of a refrigeration plant. The ice plant cools a brine solution, which runs lengthwise in numerous pipes under the curling sheet. A key part of the preparation of the playing surface is the spraying of water droplets onto the level ice. These water droplets are called pebble. Due to the friction between the stone and pebble, the stone turns to the inside or outside, causing the stone to 'curl'. The amount of curl can change during a game as the pebble wears. The surface of the ice is maintained at a temperature near 23°F (−5°C).

Making and maintaining perfect ice conditions at a curling club is as much an art as a science[citation needed]. Most curling clubs have an ice maker whose main job is to care for the ice. At the major curling championships, ice maintenance is extremely important. Well known professional ice makers Shorty Jenkins, Hans Wuthrich and Dave Merklinger reside in Canada. Large events such as the Brier or other national championships are typically held in an arena which presents a challenge to the ice maker as they must constantly monitor and adjust the ice and air temperatures as well as air humidity levels to ensure a consistent playing surface. It is common for each sheet of ice to have multiple sensors embedded to monitor surface temperature as well as probes set up in the seating area to monitor humidity and in the compressor room to monitor brine supply and return temperatures.


Players must push out of the hack to deliver their stones. Which foot they use is determined by whether they are left- or right-handed.On the sheet, a 12-foot (3.66 m) wide set of concentric rings, called the house, is painted near each end of the rink. The centre of the house is marked by the junction of two lines that divide the house into quarters and is known as the button. The two lines are the centre line, which is drawn lengthwise down the centre of the sheet, and the tee line, drawn 16 feet (4.88 m) from the backboard and parallel to it. Two other lines, the hoglines, are drawn parallel to each backboard and 37 feet (11.28 m) from it.

The rings that surround the button are defined by their diameter as the four-foot, eight-foot, and twelve-foot rings. They are usually distinguished by colour. The inner rings are merely a visual aid for judging which stone is closer to the centre; they do not affect scoring; however, a stone that is not at least touching the outside of the 12-foot ring (i.e. more than 6 feet from the centre) is not in the house and therefore does not score (see below).

Twelve feet behind the button are located the hacks. A hack is a device used to provide traction to the curler making a shot; the curler places the foot he or she will push off with in the hack. On indoor rinks there are usually two fixed hacks, rubber-lined holes, one on each side of the centre line with the inside edge no more than three inches (7.6 cm) from the centre line and the front edge on the hack line. A single moveable hack may also be used.

Full article here.

I've been known to watch it for hours on TV, never seen it in real. It's quite facinating, the strategies, all in slow motion.

[Amoskeag]

These water droplets are called pebble. Due to the friction between the stone and pebble, the stone turns to the inside or outside, causing the stone to 'curl'. The amount of curl can change during a game as the pebble wears.

A couple years ago one of the more experienced guys on the other team decided that he needed to re-pebble the ice in the middle of the match The fact that we were beating him at the time may of had some influence on his decision We lost
The sweeping actually melts the ice before the stone and keeps it from curling as well as lengthening the travel. I found myself yelling "Sweep Hard" a lot this weekend on some of our more timid throws
I mentioned bocce in an earlier post. It's very similar but you play with 2 lb balls instead of 44 lb stones (I know, the minute I typed that I could see where it was headed)
Bob

[Scotus]

I've been known to watch it for hours on TV, never seen it in real. It's quite facinating, the strategies, all in slow motion.

Me too; and I totally agree.