By Cheryl Jahn

World Women's Curling

The science of curling stones

Feb 6, 2020 | 3:50 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – There is a science behind every curling rock that has graced a sheet of ice.

“They’re referred to as a curling stone and they’re actually made out of granite,” explains Don McDermid, General Manager, Prince George Golf and Curling Club. “They have multiple pieces. The handle, the stone itself, the striking band and the bottom part is called the running surface.” The running surface is made from a finer granite from Ailsa Craig in Scotland. It is the only place on the planet where the granite is mined for curling rocks.

Each curling stone is 44 pounds in weight. And, while the goal is to make each stone identical, they do have a “personality.”

“Believe it or not, they really do,” says Jimmie Musslewhite, local curling skip at the Gold and Curling Club. “Even the professionals select specific rocks during the course of their bonspiel in order to be in the finals with the rocks they like and know what they’ll do.”

And when it gets to the level of the World Women’s Curling Championship, choosing the right rock is serious business.

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“They have a practice time at World Women’s and that’ll allow them to try all the rocks,” says McDermid. “And then the skip, or whomever, will designate the rocks that they’re going to play with and they’ll continue to play with those rocks throughout the entire game.”

So, now you have a new appreciation, when you take in a match or two at the World Women’s Curling Championships in March, you will have a new appreciation for the science of the curling stone.

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