Watching the Curlers at the Olympics I see them spend so many trips up and down the ice and so many throws. But the surface stays pebbly and nice, not melting with pools of water and channels that get ground down from the rocks being repeatedly thrown over the same area. How come there is no degradation? Is the surface a compound? Is there a chemical involved that moderates the ice?
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Under the surface, there are coils in the ice with refrigerant running through them to keep the ice solid, just like in a hockey rink. Every few ends, they sprinkle the ice to maintain the pebbly texture.
This does happen over time, but every half game there is a re-pebble done. Part of the strategy is figuring out what is happening as the ice speeds up/changes over the course of the match.
I recently wrote a very long comment on curling, apparently too long for Reddit to swallow, so it’s posted here [My take on curling basics](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y_1sTI13JDbFvOwEnFvB6TcwGmd_uih9EK2_HQDsuBw/edit?usp=sharing)
Several comments have suggested the sheet is re-pebbled during the game; it is not. The sheets are pebbled between draws (games), and after pebbling the icemaker will shave the top of the pebble to even it out, then use a big “mop” to clean the ice. During the mid-game break the mop is deployed again to clear debris, and the icemaker may pebble the hack areas to make the players more comfortable as flat ice is pretty dangerous for someone wearing a slider.
There is a slight change to the pebble over the course of a game, albeit ever so slight. The pebble heads do flatten out which will affect the curl and glide enough you adjust a little through the game. As well, it can be common for grooves to form either side of the centre line. This makes it different how a rock might curl if coming from outside toward the centre line vs curling across the centre.
As others have said, the ice won’t melt because of the coolant they have running underneath keeping the ice at a consistent temperature. This can lead to frost forming on areas of the ice that don’t see much action.
The ice absolutely changes throughout a draw and throughout a tournament despite the best maintenance. Although the changes are small, they are noticeable and need to be accounted for.
Of note, no 2 curling centers play exactly the same, some are known to be “fast” while others are “slow”.
These factors both certainly add to the game as the curlers need to learn each sheet of ice they play on and adjust as needed.
If smooth ice makes the rock stick and not glide; what are the two ahead of the rock doing? They look like they are scrubbing the pathway smooth to alter the speed so it will slow down to control the rock better?
Note that the rocks are kept on the ice so the bottom is always cold.
A friend of mine was the small cities curling rink icemaker. Whenever he got complaints about the ice he would just look at the person and ask “you lost the game, did you?“
The ice and rocks are cold, so the effect is slow, and the ice gets resurfaced frequently enough, that it never becomes a significant issue, more one of finesse.
Short answer, there is a lot of discussion as to how curling works and there is no consensus on the science. Here is a video that should help from “Smarter Every Day.”
[The Physics of Curling](https://youtu.be/7CUojMQgDpM)
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