Canadian icemaker hopes to 'be in the background' at Sochi Olympics

Hans Wuthrich, the head ice technician for the Olympic curling venue, splashes water droplets that will create the pebble surface on the ice at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia on Feb. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

WINNIPEG -- Hans Wuthrich will be showing off his world-class talent at the Sochi Olympics, but the medal podium is not his goal.

The last thing he wants is to be in the spotlight.

The Gimli, Man., native will be working behind the scenes overseeing a 25-man icemaking crew at the Ice Cube curling centre.

"If we can just be in the background, be like a good referee and nobody comes to us, that means that things are pretty good," Wuthrich said in an interview.

The world's top skips think Wuthrich is more than just "pretty good."

"Hans is clearly one of the best, if not the best, icemaker in the world," said Brad Jacobs, whose Sault Ste. Marie rink is making its first Olympic appearance. "As players, it's always a delight to play on his ice because you know going into every event that his surface is going to be perfect. Every shot is possible on Hans's ice and you can really exploit the ability of your sweepers."

Wuthrich was the chief ice technician at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, just one of dozens of major curling events he's worked around the world since his first big job at the 1993 national championships in his native Switzerland.

And just like he did at the 2010 Games that produced Canadian gold-medal winner Kevin Martin, Wuthrich is taking along a high-tech wireless monitoring system he invented in 2009 called Eye on the Ice.

The system was also used in Vancouver for hockey, speedskating and figure skating, but is only for curling in Russia.

From sensors in the ice and transmitters around the venue, Wuthrich and his crew are able to monitor readings of air temperature, dew point, humidity and temperature of ice sections on a computer or smartphone so they can ensure conditions are consistent and optimal for the competitors.

"We keep really, really close control of what's happening out there," Wuthrich said during a tune-up at the Olympic curling trials in Winnipeg.

"As soon as somebody walks on top of one of the sensors, you can see (graph lines on the screen) bounce and it'll go up. That's how accurate it is."

It's a big upgrade from the old monitoring system, which called for reams of wire to be rolled along the ice sheets, into the compressor room and outside. It took two days to set up and two to take down.

The Eye on the Ice system is used for countless national and international curling competitions, is in some NHL buildings and was at this year's NHL Winter Classic in Detroit.

Making great curling sheets isn't a hit-and-miss affair these days.

Wuthrich described the precision steps, beginning with a check to see if a building's ice surface is level to within three to four millimetres. If not, a Zamboni is brought out to shave the high parts Wuthrich has drawn with a felt marker.

Cold water is then hosed on to get it level and the entire surface is painted white. When it's frozen, areas are marked out for painting the houses, circles and logos. Each sheet is then flooded to the desired height.

Pebbling comes next, which involves spraying purified water through copper heads that each have different-sized holes. The tops of the frozen droplets are then scraped to help provide friction so the rocks travel better.

One aim is to keep the ice within a half a degree farenheit during play, he said. That can be a challenge, depending on how many fans start filling a building.

At last year's Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in Shanghai, China, there were maybe 100 people at some draws, Wuthrich said.

At the 2010 Olympics, there were thousands. And they brought with them extra problems.

"In Vancouver, the first draw was at 9 (a.m.). At seven in the morning, you could not find a seat in that arena," he recalled. "And our ice, when we mopped it, was actually red from all the mittens, from all the Canadian flags. We had to change the mops twice a day because we picked up all that red fluff. It was so crazy. The atmosphere was so unbelievable.

"That's what you really have to watch, is when you get a lot of heat load from people. It's easy to make ice when there's nobody in the building. It's when you get heat load from the people; they stand up and they clap, they go and get drinks and come back. That changes the air flows and that's what makes ice difficult."

Wuthrich, 56, grew up in Switzerland and enjoyed skiing, but never curled until he moved to Manitoba in 1976, where he also has a landscaping business.

After taking up curling in Gimli -- he still curls once a week on a "beer-drinking team" -- the club needed an icemaker so he decided to give it a go as he farmed in the summer and had more spare time in the winter.

Now it's a full-time job.

"You've got to care," said Wuthrich, who's married to former Winnipeg curler Patti Vande, a member of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. "A lot of the younger people, they don't put the time into it that we put in it. You really can't let your guard down with curling ice. You have to be on top of it all the time."

While Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones is familiar with Wuthrich's work, she said having the fellow Canadian making the ice won't give her rink a competitive edge.

"All the icemakers make great ice, and Hans is no exception. He makes outstanding ice," Jones said.

"I don't necessarily think it's an advantage. All the teams from around the world get to play on these types of conditions as well so we're going to have to go out and play well and see how everything works out."