ADVENTURE
CREATIVE CURLING High interest in low-key team sport
By JOE BUTLER Photography By JOEL RINER
I nside the Frontier Ice Arena, about 40 men and women in sweatshirts and gloves are tak- ing part in what many believe is the world’s oldest team sport: curling. At its most basic, curling is a sport that involves a player sliding a heavy stone across a sheet of ice to hope- fully land inside a 12-foot-wide tar- get. Throw too lightly and your stone falls short. Throw too hard, and it goes out of bounds. Drinking is some- times involved. Adding to the challenge are oppo- nents trying to slide their stones onto
the same spot while knocking yours out of the way. There are typically four people per team and each per- son throws twice each turn. Games take eight to 10 rounds, called ends. “It’s all low-key, and as serious as you want it to be,” said Matt Alm- on, president of the Inland North- west Curling Club, an organization that puts together weekly sessions for all skill levels in the spring and fall. It also supplies the official standard-sized granite stones and the brooms that are swept ahead of stones to help them move smoother and longer.
Almon said anyone can come out and learn how to curl — no experi- ence required. Familiarity with casual team activ- ities like lawn bowling, horseshoes, cornhole or shuffleboard doesn’t hurt, especially since all of these involve taking turns throwing something, waiting for others to take their turns, chatting with teammates and oppo- nents, and possibly drinking. “Getting comfortable with curling is pretty easy, but getting good consis- tently takes some effort,” Almon said. He came out with a few friends
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