A closer look at curling, a fan-favorite sport at the Winter Olympics

PITTSBURGH — Curling is a sport we can’t stop watching every four years when the Winter Olympics come along. USA Curling calls it a low-cost winter sport that’s easy to learn but can take a lifetime to master.

Channel 11 sports anchor Jenna Harner went to the Pittsburgh Curling Club to see how hard it is. Club members told her when the Winter Olympics rolls around, there’s a noticeable buzz around the club.

“Curling is that sport that everybody watches and says. ‘I can do that! How hard can it be?’ And so, they look us up,” said Pittsburgh Curling Club President Dustin Devine. “We have classes and they come out and try it. They find out it’s not as easy as it looks, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Harner went out on the curling sheet to try. She got the 42-pound stone in the house on the first try, but admitted it was beginner’s luck, and that it’s more challenging than it looks.

“You want to slide out of the starting block, which is called a ‘hack,’ and let go of the rock before the hog line. That’s the red lines out there. And the goal is to get your stone all the way down on the other end of the ice into the house,” Devine said.

Curling isn’t played on a typical sheet of ice — it’s typically pebbled. Devine compared it to a basketball or an orange peel. That’s what allows the rock to glide over it.

Devine added the curling community is an inclusive one.

“It really is a great game because anybody can do it. You know, you could be playing someone in their 20s who’s trying to go the Olympics. You could be playing someone in their 70s and curling with a stick. You could be curling against members who are in wheelchairs,” Devine said.

Still, Devine added the game is complicated but really fun once you learn. He said the hard part is getting down the mechanics.

“You’ll come out, you’ll slide, you’ll over — but you make that one perfect shot that curls right in behind and scores, like a little tuning fork goes off and you think, ‘this is awesome,’” Devine said.

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