Ignorance (literally a lack of knowledge) is exactly what I have.  The only piece of evidence I have that poor ice quality is the major cause of falling numbers of club curlers is totally anecdotal and emanates from JM.  In the absence of a formal statistical survey to substantiate you claim I would suggest that our state of ignorance is mutual.  I would also point out your selective inference in my comment.  I did not say that good ice was not important for club curling.  I said that 'top quality' ice, by definition being just that, i.e. the best that is possible, is not essential for the average club curler.  This was stated in order to draw a distinction, which clearly exists to anyone with any knowledge of the game, between the demands of club curlers and those at the top of the sport.

Interesting discussion. I'll add my bit from a club curlers perspective who used to play junior champs (e.g. thinks he does have at least an idea of what championship ice should be)



Well, the point is, what you define as "good" or "top quality" ice. Does the ice have to be perfect for every club game, e.g. should the technician work on it for a day or more prior to each club game? Certainly not, simply because it's not realistic.

But should the ice be prepared as best as possible, meeting at least national championship qualifying standards? I define that ice along those lines:

draw to the button should be around 23-24 seconds when timed
nice curl of about 3-4feet on a draw
some curl on take-outs, but not too much


So why should club curling ice meet those standards? Here's a couple of reasons:

• The better the ice quality, the less technically perfect does the player have to be. On swingy ice, the release can have flaws and there will still be some curl on the stone. On straight ice, a bad release of the stone will result in the stone running straight or even falling.
• Good ice is generally easier to play one, which makes it also mor attractive for corporate events (if the employees have fun because they can enjoy a good game despite having hardly any prior skills, chances are big that the company will come back the next year)
• Club curlers are often technically not that accurate, so tend to play more offensive shots. Swingy ice makes for better games because teams are not forced to play a "hit and do something" game all the way.
• If you are a team that is competing at championship level, you still need to practice. So ice that meets the standards is a must for your team and you won't choose a rink who can't provide that quality as your home rink, won't you? Or put differentely: If you don't have good curling ice at your rink, how do you expect aspiring teams (especially younger ones and therefore future club members) to choose your rink as their home base?
• It would seem logical to me, that in order to reach superb quality for special events, the ice needs to be on a high level in between competitions (e.g. club curling times) also, otherwise the amount of time and work needed to get the ice up to speed again would be much higher. But I'm no ice technician, so this is just an assumption

All I can say is this: I know a couple of dozen curlers in Switzerland who drive for over an hour and drive past one or two different curling rinks, just to be able to play at the Berne rink where the ice quality is really high. And this on a weekly basis. So I guess JM's statement that good ice attracts more curlers does carry at least some weight.
Also, my team and I, although we currently play "only" socially, are choosing our bonspiels amongst other criterias also on the ice quality of the rinks. If I don't have to (because the champs are there or something like that), I will certainly not be playing on an ice rink that provides "substandard" ice, if I can choose between that rink and one with good ice conditions.


And finally, to take up JM's last statement: I know the technicians of Berne, Biel and Thun ice rinks in Switzerland relatively well. All three of them are striving to achieve the best conditions possible, every day, no matter wether it is a WCT-E event, a corporate event or "just" the local club practise. By providing very good ice throughout the season, they also "buy" themselves enough credit to experiment with the conditions once in a while (especially before major competitions) and ensure that curlers are happy! And oh yeah, being a good ice technician can also pay off because those technicans get asked to prepare the ice for national champs, or if they are very good, for international competitions like the worlds, the europeans or the olympics...