Tuesdays of Texture

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Norm 3.0

Here’s my entry for this week’s Tuesdays of Texture. For the uninitiated it often comes as a surprise that curling rink ice is anything but smooth. In fact for curling, smooth ice would be absolutely useless. curling Between games the ice-maker will go out with a special sprayer to sprinkle large water droplets onto the ice. Those droplets freeze immediately and form the rough surface of the ice known as the pebble. The pebbled surface is what provides the friction allowing the rock to curve (curl) in one direction or the other, depending on which way the handle was turned upon releasing the rock. As always, thanks for looking 🙂

About Norm 3.0

World’s youngest grumpy old man & heart failure wonder boy. Interests: writing, woodworking, photography, travel, tennis, wine, and I know a bit about power tools.
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26 Responses to Tuesdays of Texture

  1. Pingback: Tuesdays of Texture | Week 9 of 2015 | de monte y mar

  2. shawn says:
    February 18, 2015 at 9:02 am

    Thanks for the cool photo and the info about curling. It’s a sport that I am not very familiar with. I’ve seen it a few times, but that’s it.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Ron Sharpe says:
    February 18, 2015 at 6:04 am

    Neat! Isn’t knowing about the pebbled surface of a curling rink instinct for Canadians? 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  4. narami says:
    February 18, 2015 at 1:11 am

    this makes me want to gliiiiiiiiide 🙂 thanks for sharing Norm!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. joannesisco says:
    February 17, 2015 at 9:35 pm

    I learn something new everyday. I’m not a curler and quite frankly know almost nothing about the sport so this conversation was quite interesting. I didn’t realize the point was to curl the rock … so I guess I finally know why it’s called curling 🙂

    btw – great picture. The texture on the ice is really clear.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. mrsbearfoot says:
    February 17, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    I will be paying better attention the next time I see curling on the TV! Thanks for the lesson! 🙂

    Like

  7. Nelson says:
    February 17, 2015 at 8:31 am

    I discovered that at the Scotties last year and was really amazed by how they do that, manual sprinkler that work with gravity, no Zamboni there

    Liked by 1 person

    • Norm 2.0 says:
      February 17, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      Ice-making at the elite level is an art – especially when they move into bigger arenas. There’s only a handful of people who work all of the major championships.

      Like

      • Nelson says:
        February 17, 2015 at 12:56 pm

        I think it’s in Sochi, the head-master of ice making for curling was not a Russian but a Canadian from the west (Calgary I think). He said that very few had the ability to deliver an ice of international level competition with the same quality day after day. He compared that to an art and I believe him.

        Liked by 2 people

  8. Judy @ newenglandgardenandthread says:
    February 17, 2015 at 8:02 am

    Very interesting explanation, Norm, because I would have never considered ice had texture.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. sue harvey says:
    February 17, 2015 at 7:03 am

    And your photo captures the texture perfectly. Never saw this before, tho admit I never watched curling much. Adds a dimension to the skill needed to play that I never thought before. Thanks

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Dan Antion says:
    February 17, 2015 at 6:57 am

    I had no clue. I’ve watched curling, but I’ve never heard an explanation of this. Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Norm 2.0 says:
      February 17, 2015 at 12:16 pm

      You’re welcome. Curling is one of those games that looks simple (and even boring) until you understand how it’s played.
      At the advanced level they have to be able to read the ice and how the pebble starts to wear in different spots, affecting both the speed of the rock and the amount of curl.

      Like

  12. NotAPunkRocker says:
    February 17, 2015 at 5:24 am

    I never really thought about it, but it makes sense. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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