Anchorage's Carolyn Bettes hadn't had much experience curling.

None, actually.

But she and busloads of visitors in town for the Alaska Tourism Industry Association (ATIA) Convention and Trade Show got a crash course in the sport at Mount McIntyre Wednesday evening.

Bettes, a contractor for the ATIA, and a few of her teammates figured wearing curlers in their hair would help them hit the button.

"It's more challenging than I thought it would be,” she said. "Somehow curlers in the hair don't quite suffice.”

Teammate Kathy Dunn, who was also sporting multi-coloured curlers, called the sport a riot.

Curling, the sport, is harder than it looks, Dunn said.

"Our little instructor makes it look easy. Believe me – it's not.”

Dunn was referring to Kerry Campbell, the team's instructor for the evening, who also plays for a women's competitive team in Whitehorse.

In the next group over, the boys also contained some colourful characters trying their hand at curling.

Like Fairbanks' Brett Carlson.

While Fairbanks has a vibrant curling scene, he said, he prefers to spend his time in the hockey rink.

"There's much more to it than I would have thought,” Carlson said. "And I could see how it could be addictive.”

Anchorage's Tara Stevens agreed.

"I thought it was going to be giant shuffleboard on ice, in which case I would have been good at it. But it's tricky.”