From an island in Scotland to Beijing, the curling stone odyssey

On a Scottish island far from it all, colonies of little penguins guard granite quarries. It is from this rock that the curling stones used in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are made.

Located midway between Glasgow, Scotland, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ailsa Craig served as a refuge for Catholics fleeing Protestant persecution during the Reformation in Scotland in the 16th century.

Currently uninhabited, the one square kilometer island is a nature reserve frequented by birds and seals.

Ailsa Craig is also at the heart of the curling universe, a sport in which players slide granite boulders across an ice rink, with the help of two partners who heat the ice with their brooms, to get her as close to a target as possible. it’s on the floor.

This is where the Kays Curling company, which has been manufacturing curling stones since 1851 and has supplied them to all Winter Games organizers since the first edition in 1924, obtains the rock, as it has the exclusive right to exploit it.

“Ailsa Craig has been the sole source of granite for curling stones for probably almost 200 years,” Jim Wylie, 72, retired owner of Kays Curling, told AFP.

At the Mauchline factory near Ayr in southwest Scotland, he cautiously lifts and caresses a rock, while behind him the clatter of machines working on the rocks. It takes five hours of work to produce each stone, which weighs 19.96 kilograms and has a diameter of 28 centimeters.

“So far we haven’t found any other type of granite in the world that is suitable for making a curling stone,” he adds. “There have been tests with one or two other sources with more or less success, but none of them were as good as Ailsa Craig’s stone.”

In the quarries of this volcanic island are two rare types of granite, perfect for the sport, which would have been practiced for the first time in the frozen lakes of Scotland about 500 years ago.

Blue Hone, a non-porous blue granite formed by volcanic eruptions that took place 60 million years ago, has properties that prevent frozen water from wearing away the stone. Common Green (or green granite) is especially resistant to knocks. Both are joined through a technique called ‘Ailserts’.

“The underside of the blue granite stone that is in contact with the ice must be extremely hard, as the ice can be very abrasive,” explains Wylie.

The slightest obstacle or bump can change the stone’s trajectory and make the difference between a gold medal and a bitter disappointment.

The stones produced by Kays Curling are exported to 70 countries. Demand for stones is on the rise, according to the company’s managing director, Jim English, who cites Canada, the United States, Switzerland and Austria among its markets.

“But we also sell to South America, South Korea, Afghanistan and Nigeria,” he says.

In a courtyard outside the factory, Wylie inspects a row of discarded stones to be recycled.

As with all editions, it will closely follow the 2022 Games, which began on Wednesday (2) for curling, with the mixed doubles tournament and a match between Great Britain and Sweden.

“I am convinced that curling will gain popularity after the Beijing Games,” he says, predicting “high demand [das pedras] In the next months”.