When one door closes, another door opens. This was the beginning of the Rangeley Lakes Curling Club, back when Saddleback closed, (thankfully temporarily), in 2016.

Winter enthusiasts needed something to fill the void, at least temporarily. So, from ski boots to skates a handful of open-minded and adventurous locals took to the ice.

Then, five years ago, in the middle of summer, July of 2018, the heat of the sun must have led to dreams of ice and the Rangeley Lakes Curling Club Facebook Page went public. If you are having trouble imagining what curling is all about you can check out this page.

One of the first missions of the club was to raise money for the stones that are required. Even used sets ran for several thousand dollars, but sure enough the internet, as a reliable source for crafty do-it-yourself endeavors, came through.

Current President of the club, Brent Quimby spoke of the late Chris Devine, founder of the Rangeley Lakes Curling Club.

Quimby, “He found an online video that shows you how to make your own curling stones. So, he made sixteen of them out of stainless-steel mixing bowls, like salad bowls, concrete, some iron pipes to make a handle and some plastic piping around- PEX piping that you use in bread, red for hot water, blue for cold water. Anyway, they worked actually pretty good and we used those for about three years. When I signed on, you know, I played with those one year and I said, well, we should get some real stones.”

The club is now proud to have acquired 16 real granite curling stones from Wales.

Quimby, “There’s two places in the world that have that kind of granite and it’s Wales and Scotland. The sport started in Scotland. It was originally done outdoors, an outdoor sport. But mostly what you see nowadays, especially at the Olympics, is indoor ice arenas that are dedicated to curling. They have a certain length to them, they have certain markings on the ice, etc. So we try to imitate that as best we can on Haley Pond. We meet twice a week, starting when the ice freezes, which is usually sometime in January, maybe after Christmas week, we all get together and get started. Whoever shows up, we divvy up teams and play, you know as much as we want, considering the weather.”

Quimby said the group usually gets between 8 to 12 people, but on certain event days, like Winterpaloozah, they might have closer to 20 participants.

“It’s good to have eight. Eight is ideal because you have two teams of four and everybody gets to throw 2 stones because we have the red ones and we have the blue ones and we have 8 Reds, 8 Blues. So one team of four gets to throw 8 Blues and the other team of four gets to throw 8 Reds. We’ve learned a bit about the rules and technique, etcetera watching YouTube, watching the Olympics. So you know, we kind of try to imitate what they’re doing but obviously, outdoor ice is not ideal. It’s not smooth like Olympic ice is, so they don’t curl as much. And we do brush. You know, you’ve probably seen people going down the ice brushing in front of the stone to try and direct it. We do try to do that, and it helps a bit.”

The Rangeley Lakes Curling Club is a State of Maine Corporation, but they are certainly not an overly serious club. Teams are formed with names such as the “Stoners”, “Team Alpine” and “Orange Crush”. For additional fun they run an annual Bonspiel competition towards the end of the season.

While the game of curling has been nicknamed “Chess on Ice” because if it’s strategic nature, “The Roaring Game” must also pique your interest. This stems from the roar like sound that comes from the granite stone traveling across the ice.

As with any new sport there is some fun in learning the new terminology that comes with it. It’s no surprise with a game invented in Scotland, the lingo is pretty fun.

The list of terminology associated with curling is dauntingly long but for the beginner only a handful would be required to get the ball rolling, or in this case deliver the stone from one side of the sheet to the house.

Here are some examples:

Blast: A shot delivered at high speed with a heavy weight, usually to remove several stones from a cluster.

Broom: Formerly brooms were used but brushes have replaced them, and they are used to sweep the ice.

Burn: To accidentally touch a moving stone.

Deliver: The process of throwing a stone.

End: One of 8 or 10 games or rounds that make up a match.

Hammer: The last stone in the End which has a tactical advantage.

Hog line: The line by which the handle must be fully released.

House: The target area in the center of four concentric circles.

Skip: The captain of the team who calls the shots.

Stone: The heavy, high polished granite orb with handle on the top.

Sweep: Brushing vigorously in front of the stone to make it curl less and travel farther.

But hey, basically whichever team gets closer to the center of the house (or target) after a series of ends (rounds) wins.

Appropriate ice conditions and weather permitting, the group meets behind the Rangeley Adventure Company (formerly Ecopelagicon), 7 Pond St., behind the gazebo, and is open to newcomers on Wednesday evenings at 5pm with sign up for games on Sunday afternoons at 1pm.

Want to learn more? As per Brent Quimby, ” Just show up!”

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