Dedicated Ice
The Missoula Curling Club has been bringing people together on the ice for years — through leagues, Learn to Curls, school programs, community events and bonspiels. We've done it on borrowed time and rented sheets, squeezing every hour we can out of a rink that has many other users competing for the same ice. That has served us well. But it has also shown us, season after season, how much more is possible.
Dedicated curling ice changes everything. It means consistent, high-quality playing conditions. It means a home that is ours — available when we need it, maintained the way curling requires, and open to more people in more ways than a shared arena can offer. It means a real base for growing the sport in Montana: more leagues, more youth programming, more events, and a facility that can anchor curling in this community for generations.
It could also put Missoula on the map as a destination for curling — giving curlers from across Montana and beyond a place to compete, learn, and experience our community.
That is the future we are working toward, and it is why the club has launched a capital campaign to make dedicated ice a reality.
The Campaign: Everyone on the Ice
The campaign is called Everyone on the Ice — a name that reflects what dedicated ice actually means for our club. It is not just about better conditions for existing members. It is about removing the barriers that keep people from participating: limited ice time, inconvenient hours, packed sheets, and a season that ends when the rink needs the ice back.
With a home of our own, we can open the door wider — to more beginners, more youth programs, more accessible scheduling, and more of the community events that have made curling one of the fastest-growing sports in North America.
A dedicated indoor center would also allow us to expand access to affordable, all-season recreation for youth and adults — creating opportunities for people to discover curling who might not otherwise have the chance.
Where We Stand
The campaign has broad and growing support from within the club. In our end-of-year matching gift drive, we not only met our $100,000 match — we surpassed it, with 60% of club membership participating. The strength of that response, from early donors and first-time givers alike, reflects what this community already knows: that dedicated ice is not a luxury, it is the next step.
We have also been doing the research. Club members traveled to dedicated curling facilities in Canada to tour facilities firsthand — seeing how purpose-built ice changes the experience of the sport and what it takes to run a sustainable facility. That knowledge is directly informing our planning.
The club is actively moving through the planning and development phase of the campaign. We are not there yet — but we are closer than we have ever been, and the momentum is real.
Why It Matters
Every season we operate on arena ice, we work around the constraints that come with sharing a facility with hockey and skating. Ice preparation timing affects play. Late-night game slots limit who can participate. Scheduling conflicts make our season shorter and our hours less predictable than they should be.
Dedicated ice means the club can build for the future. It means a facility built and maintained specifically for curling — with proper pebbling, consistent temperature, and sheets designed for the way the sport is played. Curlers who have experienced dedicated ice firsthand often describe it as a fundamentally different experience.
But the impact goes beyond the playing surface.
A dedicated center would give us the capacity to host larger bonspiels, competitions, clinics and other events that can bring curlers to Missoula from across Montana and beyond. It would be the first dedicated indoor curling center in Montana and the only dedicated indoor facility in the wider region (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah), creating an opportunity to make Missoula a true destination for the sport.
The potential of that vision has already been recognized at the national level. Dean Gemmell, CEO of USA Curling, has said:
“I am convinced that a full-time curling facility in Missoula, the first in Montana, will be a great success... I pledge to bring an event (national championship) to your city within three years of opening a curling-specific facility.”
And the possibilities extend beyond hosting events. A dedicated facility could attract athletes, teams and curlers from across the country — creating opportunities for competition, training and development that simply aren't possible on shared arena ice.
After visiting the state, Olympic silver medalist Korey Dropkin put it simply:
“If we could get some dedicated ice in Montana... I’d have to consider relocating.”
A dedicated facility would help establish Missoula as a regional hub for curling while creating new opportunities for local curlers, visitors and the broader community.
Stay Connected
Updates on the campaign — milestones, next steps, timelines and ways to get involved — will be shared through club email and on our social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, where we are documenting the dedicated ice effort as it unfolds.
If you want to support the campaign or learn more, reach out to us at [email protected] or click the Donate button below.
Other ways to give to the campaign can be found here.