Olympic Stones

February 2010 may seem a long way away but preparations for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver are well underway. The venue for the curling at Hillcrest in Vancouver is almost there, it's expected the first ice will go down next month.

And in the meantime back here in Scotland the stones to be used at the Olympics are undergoing testing at Greenacres.

Hans Wuthrich, chief icemaker for the Olympics, is in town working with Kays of Scotland to ensure the stones are matched and in tip top order for 2010. The testing involves all the stones being thrown mechanically and their final resting place recorded, then all the data is analysed and the stones are matched.

The Olympians won't be the first to get their hands on the stones, they'll be used in 2009 for the World Wheelchair and World Junior Curling Championships in the Olympic venue.

(Added later by Bob. How is stone matching carried out? If you are interested, this link will provide an overview)

Hans Wuthrich for Perth Euro Playdown

Hans Wuthrich, who many rate as the world's best curling ice technician, has been invited to the Dewar's Centre, Perth, to help Paul Martin and his team prepare the ice for this weekend's European playoff. Wuthrich will be the chief ice technician for the Olympic curling at Vancouver 2010.

The ice last season at Perth was good, expecially for the Perth Masters and the Scottish Championships, but the rink's Vice-chairman David Hay says, "There is always room for improvement and we are striving to move the boundaries and further enhance the playing conditions to allow the most skilful team to win, as well as adding to the excitement for the spectators."

Kelly Wood and Edith Loudon will play off for the right to represent Scotland at the European Championships in Fussen in December. David Murdoch, Warwick Smith, Tom Brewster and Gordon Muirhead contest the men's event. The draw is here.

The teams that win will carry new sponsorship to the event. A three-year agreement will see Team Scotland sponsored by Tullis Russell in Fussen and also in Örnskoldsvik, Sweden in December 2008, and in Aberdeen in December 2009.

Tullis Russell Papermakers is part of the employee owned Tullis Russell Group, based in Glenrothes, Fife.

CEO Colin Grahamslaw commented on the agreement, "I am delighted to welcome Tullis Russell on board as sponsor of the Scottish teams competing at the European Championships. Scotland boasts a number of world class curlers and this sponsorship agreement partners us perfectly with a Scottish company which produces a world class product."

RCCC CEO Colin Grahamslaw with Tullis Russell's Malcolm Sinclair, Export Sales Director.

Wuthrich and Merklinger will make ice for 2010 Olympic curling

The World Curling Federation (WCF) has announced today (June 18) that two Canadians have been selected as curling ice technicians for the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Hans Wuthrich of Gimli, Manitoba, has been named Head Ice Technician and Dave Merklinger of Vernon, British Columbia, has been named Assistant Head Ice Technician for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, which will take place February 12-28, 2010.

The official press release notes that the pair will also team up to test the competition surface a year earlier. The 2009 World Junior Curling Championship will be staged at the Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park and will serve as an official test event.

The full WCF release, with all the quotes, is already up on The Curling News Blog, and will also be here.

Wuthrich is generally acknowledged to be the world's leading ice technician. Last year he looked after the 2006 Le Gruyère European Championships in Basel, Switzerland, and the 2007 World Women's Championship in Aomori, Japan. Merklinger too is right up there with the best. He introduced a 'clean ice' zone at the Ford Worlds last season, in response to criticisms that came his way following lots of pickups at the Brier.

The Olympics has to be the biggest challenge for any ice technician. The best curlers in the world deserve the best ice. It is the showcase for our sport, with so many watching it for the first time. At the Pinerolo Palaghiaccio in 2006 the championships were somewhat let down by the quality of the ice. Let's hope 2010 will be different!