Curling Stones on Fresh Ice

Many of the curling stones used at the top level are cut from granite quarried on Ailsa Craig, a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. Before a game the ice is sprayed with fine water droplets that freeze into little bumps called pebble. Without them a stone would not curl. A few red and yellow stones have come to rest in the house, the painted target at the end of the sheet, in a curling jigsaw puzzle that is mostly ice and paint. The game itself has been played in Scotland since at least the 1500s, first on frozen ponds and lochs.