The Iceman cometh
Hans Wuthrich displays the perfect motion as he travels down the curling ice, timing the shuffle of his feet with the tick-tock flicking of his wrist to release warm water from the hose in his hand.
“Everybody calls it the Gimli shuffle,” the Swiss-born ice maker said, referring to his hometown of Gimli, Manitoba. “A lot of people can pebble, but they can’t pebble right.”
He is undoubtedly the pebble master of Olympic curling.
Wuthrich is one of two ice technicians at the curling venue, and do not overlook his work: It’s these tiny droplets of water that allow the 42-pound granite stones to curl as they travel down their sheets of ice.
“It is very serious,” Wuthrich said during a recent afternoon session at Vancouver Olympic Center. “You can’t let your guard down. It’s so finicky to make it perfect, so you can’t make mistakes.”
The 52-year-old Wuthrich has been doing this for 30 years and is among the best ice makers in Canada. He was invited by the World Curling Federation to be in charge of the Olympic playing surfaces.
Officials with curling’s world governing body have been watching Wuthrich hone his craft for years, and it was a no-brainer to ask him to work the Vancouver Games.
“It’s an art,” said Keith Wendorf, the WCF’s technical delegate at the Olympics and regular director of competitions. “There are different styles and everybody has to perfect it so they give what they think is the best conditions. We certainly know he has all the background, skills and credentials to do this. He’s very conscientious. If things are going smoothly, he’s the nicest guy in the world. If not, he can be tough, but that’s what you want.”
There are four ice sheets for the Olympics, and Wuthrich pebbles each one twice between sessions — alternating directions so he doesn’t miss a spot. The first layer is water at 67 degrees, then the next at about 140. The smallest of particles can affect play, meaning constant attention is paramount.
This gig makes for an exhausting day. Wuthrich has been working from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. That includes monitoring team practices late into the night after the 7 p.m. games are complete. He sleeps briefly at a nearby hotel.
“It’s very stressful,” Wuthrich said.
Wuthrich is overseeing a group of 19 others, with assistant Dave Merklinger and the rest volunteers. When he’s not keeping curling ice just right, Wuthrich runs a landscaping and nursery company back home.
“That’s my real job,” he said.
His spraying technique causes the water to come out in a circular motion, which he said assures the droplets of covering more of the sheet and not just traveling to the outside area of the ice.
“I think he’s a perfectionist and he’s one of the best if not the best ice makers in the world,” said Scottish skip David Murdoch of the world champion British foursome. “He does a fantastic job and he’s doing a great job this week. There’s not one complaint about the ice. It’s curling well, it’s quick and I think everyone’s happy.”
Wuthrich has learned from some of the best over three decades of work, but each ice maker develops a way that works for him.
“You have to be very conscientious that you keep the playing conditions exactly the same at all times,” Wuthrich said. “The better you make it, the better the curling gets and the more people enjoy it. The better the teams get, the higher the percentages, everything multiplies. You’ve got to really have control of the building, control of the ice. Everything matters, every little thing.”
During the games, he watches intently from his seat at one end — 15 feet or so from the action. Others in his crew approach him with any issues that arise.
“Isn’t the atmosphere great in here?” Wuthrich asked. “It’s so nice. It doesn’t matter who plays. Of course Canada gets the most cheers, but people don’t leave. If Canada is gone, they stay and cheer on the U.S., they cheer Denmark or whatever. It’s absolutely fantastic. You don’t see that very often.”
PARTING SHOT
“What I expected to see today was some humility. What I saw today was arrogance. What I saw was anger. … It was basically an infomercial.”
— Rick Cerrone
A public relations executive speaking on CNN after Tiger Woods apologized on TV Friday for his marital infidelities.
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