Scoop: Seattle's Popular Curling Club

Seattle’s longstanding curling club offers a local way to catch Olympic fever

Say what you will about Canada’s beloved (and to some, baffling) sport, but not only has curling been an Olympic game since 1998, it has a huge following in Seattle—evidenced by the perennial popularity of the Granite Curling Club. Founded in 1961, Granite is a serious sweeping center. In fact, Granite teams (known as “rinks”) have won more national championships than any other U.S. club. In addition to being home to several local leagues and wider competitions (or “bonspiels”), Granite holds regular open houses—offering basic skill building and a practice game—for landlubbers hoping to get in on the icy action. So if Olympics coverage has you itching to push a heavy, polished stone down a rectangular sheet of ice, you know where to go.

Open houses: 2/20 (10 a.m.–4 p.m.), 2/21 & 2/27 (11 a.m.–3 p.m.), 2/28 (9 a.m.–2:30 p.m.). $15/individuals, $40/family. Granite Curling Club, 1440 N 128th St.; 206.362.2446; curlingseattle.org.