Curlers know their sport looks funny. Here's why they love it anyway
GOLDEN, Colo. — Before Beth Nichols tried curling for the first time, she thought it looked a little ridiculous. But after several times driving past the Denver Curling Club — an 18,000-foot ice facility visible from 6th Avenue — she and her husband decided to give it a whirl.
“The second we got here; everyone was so kind,” Nichols said. She now plays up to 10 times per week.
In curling, teams of two or four players slide 44 pound granite stones along a 150 foot section of ice towards a painted target, called the house. Teammates use carbon fiber brooms to sweep the ice in front of the moving stone, which alters its trajectory. Think shuffleboard on ice.
Teams earn points by landing their stones closest to the center of the target.
From Tampa, Florida to the Arctic Circle, curling is surging in popularity. Seven years after the Denver Curling Club built its four-sheet facility in 2014, Rock Creek Curling constructed an even larger facility in Lafayette.
Curling-specific facilities provide players with smoother, more consistent ice, said David Falco, head ice technician at the Denver Curling Club. They also open the door for Colorado to host national curling events. Last February, Rock Creek Curling hosted the Olympic Trials for mixed doubles curling.
Olympic curling starts Feb. 4 at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Dan Rose, who plays at the Denver Curling Club, will compete for the United States in wheelchair curling at the Paralympic Games, which start March 4.
Part of the sport’s appeal is its accessibility.
“It's a sport that allows anybody to play up until you're 95,” said Nichols, 35.
But just because it’s quick to learn, doesn’t mean it's easy. That’s the biggest misconception Michelle Page of Boulder runs into when teaching others how to play.
Sweeping — which heats the ice can extend the trajectory of a stone and help it travel straight — is particularly exhausting.
Good sweeping is one of the skills that separates Olympic curlers from average joes.
“You'll see that a lot at the Olympic level, where you're not just trying to make it go further, you're trying to keep it straight, you're trying to make it curl more,” said Page.
This story is part of Rocky Mountain PBS’ ongoing coverage of the 1976 Winter Olympics Denver voters declined to host.
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