I would like to pass on what we have done in our Club to Create the fastest Ice Speed to date. Split time of 3.59 between Tee and Hog for a Guard.

   I will start by saying we are in Ontario, and play in a 3 sheet Curling Club with a cement floor. The ice temp is 24 degrees and the plant comes on at 25 degrees. Humidity is 55 percent and air temp is 38 degrees. Heaters have been installed this year(2018) so it has been a learning curve for us. Make sure the louvers are level and or up slightly so there is no warm air hitting the ice surface.The pebble water is 125-135 degrees. Using a Fine pebble head. WE Do Not have Jet Ice. We use a reverse osmosis system for the pebble water only. The ice is put in with town water. Also the rocks have been textured this year to give a little more curl App 6 feet of curl. The ice is scraped each day. Each sheet is scraped 3 times. 2 five passes, changing the angle for each scrape pattern and either a 3 or 4 pass for the last one. And the last scrap the blade is straight.

We put down a single pebble that lasts the whole game. But the way we pebble is possibly different than other ice makers. I use a metronome app on my phone to keep beat of the arm speed when I pebble. The speed I accomplish is 205 BPM. The faster you move your arm the greater pressure that you create of the water coming out of the pebble head. Giving more pebbles and a greater height for it to fall. Now for your foot speed. The faster you move your feet backwards along with the large space between each step helps in making fast ice. From Tee to Tee 19 seconds. You are hauling A--. Because you start slow and slow down to stop I use this time and space to communicate to others. The less pebbles on the ice the greater the speed. Less resistance for the rock to glide down the ice. We let it set up for 5 minutes and then we take our Pebble Buffer (Betty the Buffer) over it. To polish the pebble. We DO NOT USE A NIPPER!!!! A nipper takes off the top of the pebble to give speed in the beginning and then it drops off and the ice goes flat. Which Sucks! With the Buffer Pad it polishes the top of the pebble and does not remove the top of the pebble. letting the ice last all 8 ends. This speed of pebbling is at the extreme end for the pebble to stand up for a game so far.

To pass on some other info is that once a week mixed play 2,- 6 end games.We do not pebble at the speed that I do to create that 3.59 split time but it lasts 10 ends and it starts to go flat for the last 2 ends.

The ice is produced by 4 crews in my club consisting of 2 people on each team. Producing the best ice around in my opinion.

I hope this helps curling clubs get out of their own way and do something great. Their is always someone holding others back from accomplishing greatness.