Calgary’s Darren Moulding loves everything about curling. From throwing rocks to making ice -- and now, manufacturing stones -- Moulding is as savvy as they come.when it comes to curling gear. “Really since I was probably 11, I fell in love with curling, maybe even younger than that watching my parents curl,” said Moulding in an interview with CTV News. The peak for Moulding was winning the Brier with Brendan Bottcher’s rink in 2021. While he still curls competitively, Moulding is also involved in other aspects of the sport. He’s an ice maker and recently started manufacturing curling rocks. Moulding says he was always fascinated by curling stones. “I wanted to know everything about the buildings and the rocks,” Moulding says. “So many times in curling, especially back then when the conditions weren’t as good -- a guy would just throw his hands up and go ’why did that do that?’ Like, a rock misses and I was always looking for answers.” Moulding’s business partner is Rick Phillips who’s been curling since he was 12. They work out of a tiny shop just outside the town of Didsbury. The rocks come to the shop looking pretty unfinished, and Moulding and Phillips do the rest. “How do I do it? I just listen to Darren,” Phillips said. “Darren is kind of the brains behind the rock part of it.” Fifteen and Five is their company. They’re one of only three places in the world that manufactures rocks for curling clubs, with the others being in Scotland and Ontario. “It’s pretty interesting that there’s only three in the world,” said Phillips, “and we’re one of them. That’s kind of a weird feeling for sure.” It doesn’t matter if he’s on the ice or off it -- Moulding is always competitive. His goal is to make the best curling rocks in the world. “We’re doing the same thing to every rock and our machines are consistent,” says Moulding, “but you also have control of the shape of your running surface and the shape of your striking band-- and I know through the years of playing and everything what I want to see and it hasn’t been produced yet, so we’re going to have to produce it. “That’s the goal.” Moulding and Phillips say business is booming and in time, they’ll move into a bigger shop and grow the business. “Our goal is to be the best at what we do,” says Moulding, “and hire people and contribute to the economy and that kind of thing.”
