Thunder Bay icemaker off to World Championship

The icemaker at the Port Arthur and Fort William Curling Clubs in Thunder Bay, Ont. will show off his skills at a national competition.

Brent Adamson, who has made ice for years, was selected to be the assistant icemaker at the Ford World Men's Curling Championship in Edmonton, which starts April 1.

"It's just years put in. You know, you work the years, and you do different, other events, and, you kinda get on the list with [Curling]Canada, and you get the call. 'Do you want to help out at this event or do this event'. As you move up the ladder you get to do bigger events," he said.

Adamson said making ice at an international event is a little different than at the two curling clubs in Thunder Bay.

Temperature and humidity, of which both have a great effect on the curling surface, can usually be well controlled in an arena, where the world championships will take place.

"Here, you're not worried about that humidity brought into the building. You're watching your temperatures a lot closer, just keeping an eye on things."

"It definitely is different. People will tell you the sliding surface is different, it curls more in an area, I think the big thing is just with the humidity and the temperature. You can control it that much better in an arena, so it just makes it that much faster and that much better."

Adamson honed his icemaking skills after working at the local rink in his hometown of Kenora, Ont.

He said being able to travel all over northwestern Ontario, and Canada to make curling ice is just a perk of the job. He learns new techniques from other icemakers, and gets ideas on how to improve the ice at the two clubs in Thunder Bay.

Getting to make ice for an international event is a big deal.

"I'm looking forward to that one. It'll be a fun event."