My final night with the Landelius was spent watching the kids @ curling practice. (Lars is one of the coaches....such a fascinating sport.) I did try pushing the stone - without the teflon-soled booties they slip on over their regular shoes...imagine how slippery the ice gets with teflon!
My first attempt went barely 10 meters, and the second maybe 20. It is much more difficult than it looks. The stones have a very small surface area that comes in contact with the ice, which is kept just barely at freezing point. The stone is so heavy, with the weight condensed into a small area in the center, making it freeze slightly into the ice between throws. Even the foot brace didn't help much; you're supposed to use only your legs to push it off on its way down the lane.
The ice is made smooth first with an ice machine, like a small Zamboni. A light spray of water, from a pack that is strapped to the back, is applied next, making the ice pebbly, with different size bumps, but still very slippery.
The ice is perfect when it grabs the stone just a bit and allows the broomers to sweep enough friction to melt it ever so slightly. (Here's one of the best sites I could find about how curling is played & scored -
http://www.curldc.org/about/basics.php)
The final step is to push a light, large push mob across the ice, picking up small slivers which could send the stone off by a few millimeters.
Axel, looking out into the future of his curling success! (Emma is really good at sports, too...they are both talented kids + Emma's height helps much.)
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