After the Games, the Fun Continues

Except for bonspiel regulars, curling seems only to break into popular consciousness once every four years, with the arrival of the Winter Olympics.

This year, the sport has popped up at a broad array of locations, from rooftop bars to remote frozen lakes, giving more people an opportunity to hurl the stones through March.

Snake River Brewing in Jackson, Wyoming, installed a curling sheet in its slopes-facing front yard this winter.

The microbrewery’s director of operations, Chris Erickson, built the 24-foot-long ice sheet by hand and even shaped the stones that patrons can push down the alley (in one direction only; the sheet isn’t long enough for two targets or “houses”). Patrons can play for free.

A number of resorts also offer curling, including the American Club Resort in Kohler, Wisconsin, about 60 miles north of Milwaukee.

The resort has a curling rink in its courtyard, available to groups by reservation but free to guests on Friday and Saturday afternoons.

In Quebec, the Fairmont Le Château Montebello is offering a “Go Canada Package” to get guests into the Olympic spirit, with rooms from 150 Canadian dollars (about $115) and access to its curling sheet as well as its skating rink and cross-country ski trails. The hotel is 51 miles east of Ottawa and 84 miles west of Montreal.

Among the more unique locales for curling is the rooftop bar at the Gwen, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Chicago.

The ice is synthetic, the rink is 7 feet shorter than regulation sheets and the stones have ball bearings on the bottom to help them glide, but the facsimile has transformed the fifth-floor terrace into an outdoor attraction in an unlikely season.

Admission is $25 a person, including 30 minutes of curling time and a cocktail; smaller stones are available for children.

“Our winters can be dreary and there isn’t always a lot to do,” said Marcus Cornelious, director of sales and marketing for the Gwen. “With a cocktail, everyone seems to want to try their hand at curling.”