Rogue post removed -- JM

Thank you, that was great!!

Why bother with either! Did you see the backswing when they deliver? Chuck and hope!

I believe from a reliable source that they still make ice in this way at Kirkcaldy. Great skill.

I'd be happy to elaborate. I am told that Kirkcaldy is in the habit of "flooding" between games while the players have lunch. When they return to the ice it is sticky underfoot and certainly packed with salts, just like outdoor ice. I am also told that the ice actually doesn't play too badly!

So, Phantom, if you can tell me what your ice-surface temperature is after such a procedure I'll try to wrap my head around it and see why you guys get away with it -- it certainly didn't work too well on outdoor ice, so I must assume you're able to freeze the ice much colder!

TPN

Although I am not John's reliable source and have never had this conversation with him I feel I must come to his defence and say that while competing in the Morton Trophy Final at Kirkcaldy in early March I asked why the Ice had changed so much from the Semi-Final to the Final.*  The answer I was given, by a gentleman who presumably had something to do with the ice, although I couldn't be certain, was that they had only sprayed it but would normally flood the ice between games but there hadn't been time on that occasion as they needed 2hours and there was only 1.5hrs between Semi and Final.  I was shocked by this and asked if it would not be easier to cut it?  The answer initially was that they didn't have a cutting machine but it was quickly clarified that they do have one but they never use it and prefer to flood instead.  The indication was that this is what used to happen in the olden days and Kirkcaldy had no reason to change the habits of a lifetime!

* The Semi was a reasonable speed of approx 22/23sec(T-T), ( I use the time only for demonstration purposes as I didn't cheat and use a stopwatch on the day) and that dropped down to approx 19sec in the Final.  The Ice surface also changed and it became really difficult to move around with any confidence.

We did an experiment at Kinross, Stevie and I. We applied a fine -- very fine -- misting spray onto his salt-free surface. He still hasn't forgiven me, it took him another week to clean the salts just from one very fine misting spray!

-5 or -6C is very cold. This is how people deal with salts, they freeze colder by at least 1C. Personally I don't believe there is any need for curling ice to be colder than -4C except in an arena with a few thousand spectators. This is not about having a go at Kcy, this is about what people tell me and what they have to curl on. I can name you at least three curling venues in Scotland where the same principles are being applied, and they simply do not work in the modern era. Stranraer is NOT one of them.

TPN, don't get me wrong, you are working under circumstances peculiar to your location. All I am trying to do is understand how you guys get away with it, because you are breaking too many laws of physics when it comes to curling ice and then you try to tell us you have a good system? Sorry, I don't get it. Teach me, I'm happy to learn......

 we established some time ago that TPM spays the ice with water straight out of the tap prior to the evening sessions and occasionaly before some finals of important competitions

Can GM or TPN provide some timings for the ice at the Morton it will make an interesting comparison to what I have just posted in the stopwatch thread. Split times and hog to hog not just tee to tee to make things more accurate please

get a grip TPH

comparing kirkcaldy with perth ........no no no no never!!

i have it on good authority that it is the heaviest ice in the country - never mind the twists. so dont try and make it sound like something it isnt !!

naughty naughty