Warm Weather Doesn’t Deter Tichborne Ice Stock Fans

Craig Bakay | Feb 22, 2017

While the sunny skies were welcome for much of the Frontenac Heritage Festival last weekend, the Tichborne venue might have preferred a slightly cooler temperature as the rink featured a bit of water across its surface.

Undaunted however, the Kingston & Area Ice Stock Club along with a few locals still threw a few rocks and got in a game or two.

“It’s OK,” said spokesperson Chris Hammer. “This game can be frustrating in the best of conditions but we’re always competitive.”

Ice stock is game very similar to curling. Indeed, practitioners throw stones towards a ‘house’ and the closer your stones are to the house (actually a rubber ring so it has similarities with bocce) than your opponents, the more points you score. The stones are quite similar to curling stones, except the handles are straight up. There is one big difference, however, the design of the 4.5 kilo stones allows for the exchanging of bases such that it can be played on asphalt during the summer.

“The summer game uses Teflon bases,” Hammer said. “That’s what we’ll be using when we start our summer season at the tennis courts in Sydenham.

“The winter bases are rubber.”

The sport likely has its origins in curling (although it is depicted in Peter Bruegel paintings from the 1500s) but it’s actually a German-Austrian variant established in 1934.

Locally, it began at Ernst Porhaska’s and Otto Egger’s properties just off Sydenham Road north of the 401 in the late ’50s.

It suffered a local decline in the ’90s but has been enjoying a resurgence with 45 regular members in the local club.