CCC History

The Capital Curling Club was born in 1982 when twenty former curlers got together and talked about the game that they played somewhere else before moving to Bismarck.  With fond memories and perhaps more sentiment than common sense, they set out to start a curling club.

The group rented an old warehouse, hired an electrical contractor to put in the necessary lighting, and built a warming room inside the cold storage sheet metal structure.  Boards were bolted to the floor to form two curling sheets.  With the onset of cold weather, club members began hauling water to the site in a trailer.  The ice began to take shape.

Widely fluctuating temperatures made ice making a challenge.  The building’s floor was just as challenging -by the time the high spot was covered, the ice in one corner was nearly ten inches thick.  Frost on the roof meant dripping and ice mounds when the sun came out.  Cold weather meant brutal conditions and warm temperatures meant no curling because the pebble wouldn’t freeze.

The Capital Curling Club existed in these primitive conditions for three years.  Some seasons saw as little as six weeks of curling – just too much warm weather.  Maybe there was a good reason why curling hadn’t migrated to the warmer southwest region of North Dakota!

During these formative years, the Capital Curling Club became a part of a local fund drive to raise over $1 million for a new ice arena.  Plans called for a hockey and figuring skating rink, four sheets of curling ice, and a pro shop for the adjacent golf course.

Read more about the drive for the new facility in this excerpt from the North American Curling News, April, 1986.

While the old building was being torn down, the new arena was being built – thanks to strong community support and lots of “sweat equity.”  Club members spent countless hours in the fall of 1985 preparing for and installing refrigeration pipes in what would be the floor of the new curling club.  The cement floor was poured in late December.  The Club put in natural ice about one month later and enjoyed three weeks of curling before the weather turned warm.

Artificial ice came to the arena in time for the 1986-87 season.  Other improvements were added in the years that followed – club room amenities, new rocks, an ice scraper, etc.  The Capital Curling Club’s facilities are now among the finest anywhere.

Despite all the hard work and major improvements, curling struggled in Bismarck just like it has across the United States and in Canada.  Two career families, competing activities for adults and children, school functions nearly every day of the week, a weak economy, and lukewarm promotional efforts hit Bismarck like they did many other curling clubs.  Membership declined in the early 1990s.

This trend has, however, been reversed.  Bismarck’s Capital Curling Club has posted membership gains over the past several years.  The Club has 64 teams playing in seven evening leagues.  Two local high schools and a junior college have made curling a part of their physical education program.  An after school junior league is available for middle school and high school students and a "Little Rocks" instructional program is available for elementary students.

Bismarck’s remote location relative to other curling clubs has made it difficult to attract teams to winter bonspiels.  The Club does, however, run a summer ‘spiel that will be in its 15th year in 2003.  A number of summer events have been held in conjunction with the summerspiel to take advantage of the summer ice.  The 1997 event was run in conjunction with an ice making clinic for ice makers from throughout the Upper Midwest and central Canada.  That event was followed by one of four junior curling camps conducted by the United States Curling Association.  There is no “off season” for curling in Bismarck!

In just a few short years the Club has made quite a name for itself.  In addition to being one of the largest and most active curling clubs in North Dakota, the Capital Curling Club has also established itself in competitive circles.  In 1997, local teams captured state men’s and high school championships and in both 2001 and 2002 the juniors team won the state event, going on to place fifth at nationals – hopefully these events foreshadow future state curling titles to come to Bismarck.

The club also began hosting national events in 1993 with the National Mixed Curling Championships.  This was followed with the Men's and Women's National Curling Championships in 1998.  In April this progression culminated with the hosting of the 2002 Ford World Curling Championships and the first-ever World Senior Curling Championships.

These events and the Club’s day-to-day activities would not be possible without strong support from the local park district, convention & visitors bureau, schools, businesses, our sponsors and the club members.  It is hoped that this partnership can be maintained and that curling will continue to grow and flourish in Bismarck.