The Elliot Lake curling club is trying something that is not traditional for a sport that covets its ice surfaces when it is sharing the same ice with kids from the local figure skating club to practice on.
But with the closure of the arena and local skaters having to travel to Massey for practices, the curling club is exploring an option to help the figure skating club.
Saturday was the second time the young skaters have practiced on the ice at the Granite Club.
“The curling club is currently running a trial to see if they can accommodate some of the ice time needs in town, given that the arena will be closed for the foreseeable future,” said William Elliott whose granddaughter is with the figure skating. “This involved their ice people ‘converting’ the curling ice to skating ice and then turning it back into curling ice. The hope is to be able to accommodate both groups and eliminate a lot of the out-of-town travel that is happening now.”
Being able to practice in Elliot Lake means out of town ice rental costs are reduced, costs to drive skaters to and from Massey twice a week and concerns about traffic safety for all those driving especially during winter are reduced. Elliott said parents were particularly concerned about the twice weekly drive especially, “after all the stuff that’s been happening along that highway,” he said referring to an accident that claimed the lives of two teenagers on busy Highway 17 near Massey last week.
Parents are also concerned about evening practices which see them make the trip to and from Massey each Tuesday which results in the skaters coming home around 9 p.m. after a full day of activities which can be “rough.”
“This is really a community effort to try and fill the gap left by the arena closure, with everyone trying to do their bit to make it work,” Elliott told reporters who attended the Saturday morning practice. “It won’t be a perfect solution, but it could be a solution.”
The curling club’s ice technicians Jesse Hamilton and Luc Lance have been part of the trial, preparing the ice for the practices and returning it to the pebbled ice needed for curling games. It takes a little more than an hour to make the ice conversion.
Hamilton said initial work in preparing the ice for the figure skaters is using a battery-operated machine that will shave off the pebble on the ice and smoothing it as the skaters are accustomed to on regular hockey ice surfaces.
The ends of the rink are cordoned off, leaving about two-thirds of the rink for skaters to practice on.
Hamilton said the transition is something that hasn’t been done with a curling club converting its rink for skating. In many small communities hockey rinks being shared with curlers is common.
Both technicians believe the trials have shown the conversion can be accomplished without any negative impacts to the ice. They also point out that when the idea was brought to the attention of the curling club members they were in favour of it.
“A large portion of the membership said let’s give it a go,” Hamilton added, referring to concerns about safety and convenience for the young skaters.
It takes a little more than an hour to make the ice conversion.
Only the figure skating club is part of the trial run.
“It is still a work in progress and a learning experience,” Elliott said. “We are hopeful more can be done in time it will also depend on what happens with the arena.”