Our Outdoor Curling Rink

Author: Bob Wilson

Web design: Ray Perkins

The Rink

Our rink is 12 ft wide and 120 ft long overall with 90 ft between the circles. These dimensions, (except the width) we believe, are the dimensions used for outdoor curling in Scotland. 120 ft. is shorter than an indoor rink, which is necessary because of the extra effort required to throw the rocks (drag) on outdoor ice especially near the end of the season when the ice is softer or during light snow. Indoor rink dimensions can be found here

Our circles are normal regulation diameter except that the band width of each circle is only 2 inches. This is necessary because the late season sun melts the ice over the circles. However, the rocks will pass over the 2-inch melted groove in the ice without causing the rock to change direction. We use a homemade metal scriber to scratch an outline of the circles into the ice. See pictures below. We use ice paint to colour the circles. It is a powder that you mix with water. It is easy to apply with either a bristle brush or foam brush. It dries / freezes very quickly. The circles remain visible for a long time even as layers of ice from flooding cover the rings. Check out this as a source of ice paint. Your can buy a pre-printed sheet with regulation width rings on it from here or maybe others. This product is intended for indoor use. We have not used one of these. We suspect that with the wide lines, you would have problems when the sun melts a large width groove in the ice. This would cause problems with the rocks changing direction as they pass over the wide melted groove.

Using 1 x 3 spruce lumber, we made of an 11 ft 6 inch long template / guide for a 2 inch wide paint brush.

We have found that the best method is to fill a barrel with water and dump it. The water flows out evenly over the ice before freezing. This levelling cannot be achieved using a hose. Repeating the barrel dumping 4 times (4 barrels of water) is usually enough to cover the entire rink. The barrel method makes the rink quite flat, which greatly improves the quality of the game.

Highly recommended. We use a garden hose spraying up into the air to pebble. The larger the pebbles the better. The rougher the ice the better. Pebbling greatly reduces the drag of outdoor ice.

We use LittleRocks. They are made of composite / epoxy material and weight 20 lbs. Junior players normally use them. We have found that it takes too much effort to throw the standard 40 lb granite rock because of the drag of outdoor ice especially if the ice is a bit soft on a mild day near the end of the season. By using 20 lb rocks, all ages can participate. Also granite rocks are very expensive
We purchased used LittleRocks from the indoor curling clubs. The little rocks we use are first generation junior rocks, which have since been replaced by newer designs. Therefore many clubs have the older design of junior rocks for sale.
We could typically buy a full set for $300. From the clubs point of view, there is no market for them and they are taking up space in the club so the clubs typically just want to get rid of them. Email all the curling clubs in your area or your province or state.
If you have really deep pockets and want to buy the latest design of LiteRocks you can buy a set for about $3,800 Cdn plus taxes and shipping from Canada Curling Stone Company and others.

We have tried using hack type things cut into the ice; 2 x 4s spiked to the ice, etc. but found that a mat made of carpet covered plywood works best. We made them from a 2 ft. x 3 ft. piece of 3/8" thick plywood. Put #10 wood screw thru the plywood at about 6 inch centres so that about ˝ to ľ inch of each screw protrudes thru. These screws grip the ice so the mat does not slip. Cover the plywood and the heads of the screws with carpet. The carpet should be low pile type like you would find on a hall runner. Don’t use pile type carpet, it holds too much snow. Make sure that the carpet covers the screw heads so that the screw heads do not damage the running surface of the rocks as the rocks fly over the board on take-out shots. Also, the mat can easily be stored between games, just bring it out and flop it down.

We bought used brooms from the local Salvation Army Thrift Store for $1 or $2 each. A great variety seems to be available from time to time at these stores. We found that the traditional corn brooms did not work as well as the push broom type mainly because the loose strands of straw get under the rocks. Also, straw brooms are not very good when it was snowing lightly. Yes, we curl in light snow!

Our first rink was on a pond. Our current rink is on land.
We used 2 x 6’s on edge to form the boards around the perimeter.
We used 6 x 6’s staked to the ground using re-bar for the ends.
6 x 6’s are needed to take the pounding of the rocks during take out shots. We purchased a large tarp that the farmers use to cover round hay bales and used a portion of it as a liner. We could buy a tarp large enough to make 2 liners for about $300. It has a white and a black side. 1 x 6 x 5/4ths wood deck boards were used to hold the liner against the outer boards. The radius edge on these boards reduce the stress on the liner and of course they provide protection for the liner from the rocks and the brooms and boots. We found that a land-based rink requires a lot less maintenance than a pond-based rink. You can put just 2 inches of water in the liner and you have a rink (assuming your base is flat).

Leaves frozen into the ice absorb the sun, which melts the ice. A group of outdoor curlers on a farm in Wisconsin suggest that you paint the ice white over the leaf to avoid local thawing.