By Porter Lang
A curling stone is a polished granite stone sent down a sheet of ice by hand. How the sport reached Canada is better documented than the stone itself, and that is where this piece spends its time.
The weight and the measurements
Wikipedia, quoting World Curling Federation specifications, gives these limits: a weight of 17.24 to 19.96 kilograms (38 to 44 pounds), a maximum circumference of 914 millimetres (36 inches), and a minimum height of 114 millimetres (4.5 inches). We did not find these figures on the World Curling site, so they rest on Wikipedia alone.
The running band
Only a small part of the stone touches the ice. Wikipedia describes a running band of 6.4 to 12.7 millimetres (a quarter to half an inch) wide and about 130 millimetres (5 inches) in diameter. The sides of the stone bulge, and the underside inside the ring is hollowed out. The article credits J. S. Russell of Toronto with proposing the concave bottom after 1870, and says Andrew Kay later adopted it.
The handle
A handle is fixed by a vertical bolt through a hole in the centre of the stone. Handles are coloured to identify teams, and Wikipedia says red and yellow are the usual choices in major tournaments.
Two quarries
Wikipedia says the granite comes from two places. One is Ailsa Craig, an island in the Firth of Clyde off the coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, which yields two types, Common Green and Blue Hone. The other is the Trefor quarry on the Llŷn Peninsula in Wales, which yields Blue Trefor and Red Trefor, and Wikipedia says Trefor granite comes in pink, blue and grey shades.
It says Common Green is the lower-quality grade and can be gathered at the site, while Blue Hone has to be freed from the cliff face. Blue Hone has very low water absorption, the article adds, and that resists erosion from repeated freezing. The island is now a wildlife reserve, and blasting is restricted.
Kays of Scotland, the maker, describes its stones as cut from Ailsa Craig granite, “one of the densest granites ever discovered”, and says that with periodic servicing a stone should last for decades. Both statements are the producer’s own, and we have no outside test.
Two makers, with a gap between the sources
Wikipedia names two manufacturers. Kays of Scotland, based in Mauchline, Ayrshire, has made stones since 1851 and holds exclusive rights to Ailsa Craig granite, it says. The Canada Curling Stone Company uses Trefor granite exclusively and has produced stones since 1992.
Side by side
| Point | Wikipedia | Kays of Scotland’s own site |
|---|---|---|
| Founding | Making stones since 1851 | “For over 170 years”; 1851 not mentioned |
| Olympic use | Supplied stones for Winter Olympics since 1924; exclusive since 2006 | Calls its stones “Olympic Standard”; does not say they were used at the Games |
| Granite | Ailsa Craig, exclusive rights | Ailsa Craig |
| Production figures | Not given | Not given |
The 170-year claim and the 1851 date fit together if the site was written in the 2020s, but neither source says so. We cannot test the Olympic statement, which is why it is attributed to Wikipedia.
Why the ice has a texture
Wikipedia says water droplets are sprayed onto the ice and freeze into pebble, and the stone travels on the pebbled surface. Pebble and the concave base reduce friction, so a stone slides farther. The amount the stone curves changes as the pebble wears, so the ice maker re-pebbles before each game. The page puts the ice temperature at about minus 5 degrees Celsius.
The thrower gives the stone its rotation on release, and that rotation produces the curl. Sweepers influence the path by sweeping the ice in front. The World Curling Federation’s history page calls the sport the “Roarin’ Game”, because of the noise a granite stone makes on the ice.
How curling reached Canada
The Canadian Encyclopedia says curling probably began informally before 1800. It reports an undocumented suggestion that Scottish soldiers brought it during the Seven Years’ War. Scots connected with the fur trade formed the Montréal Curling Club in 1807, which the encyclopedia calls the first sports club in Canada. Clubs followed in Kingston in 1820, Québec City in 1821 and Halifax in 1824.
Early curlers used stones of iron or maple as well as stones imported from Scotland. The encyclopedia says locally made granite stones were advertised in Toronto by 1839. It says Montréal curlers were probably the first to play indoors, in 1838, and that Toronto’s first indoor facility followed in 1859.
Dates in order
- 1807 (Canadian Encyclopedia): Montréal Curling Club formed.
- 1838 (World Curling): the Grand Caledonian Curling Club formed in Edinburgh; (Canadian Encyclopedia) Montréal indoor curling, probably.
- 1839 (Canadian Encyclopedia): local granite stones advertised in Toronto.
- 2016 (World Curling): a Sweeping Summit near Ottawa led to major sweeping rule changes.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia for the stone’s specifications and makers, the national encyclopedia for the Canadian history, the sport’s world body for rules and the Olympics, and one producer’s own web page. We read no standards document, no quarry record and no Canadian maker’s site.
Questions a buyer would ask
What we left out
Prices, including those of sensors and accessories. Brooms and brushes, because none of our sources gave specifications. Championship winners, sponsors, and the names of living players.
Quick answers
When did curling start in Canada? The Canadian Encyclopedia says the Montréal Curling Club formed in 1807 and calls it the first sports club in Canada.
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