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?
In: 225
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.
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