Darlene Gammel and Janine Peters are rookie curlers.

The two Whitehorse residents have been participating in various sports together while growing up in the city.

Now it was time to try something new, Gammel said.

"We're bambis on ice,” Peters laughed.

Gammel and Peters were two of many prospective curlers on hand during the Whitehorse Curling Club's open house and registration at the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre over the weekend.

The two signed up for the Friday night mixed league, for beginner and intermediate curlers.

For fun, Gammel and Peters agreed.

Club manager Jon Solberg said the club's numbers are steadily increasing.

"I don't know that we've kept records for our learn-to-curl clinic at the start of the season, but from my time here, this is the most I've ever seen,” Solberg said.

He attributed that increase with the increase of information the club has been providing the curling community.

"There's an awful lot of new people to the community that have registered for curling, and so I think we're doing a good job of getting information on opportunities to the general public,” Solberg said.

The Friday night fun league is one of the club's fastest growing events, he added.

"We saw a huge spike in that this year, and we haven't even started combining teams from our single sign up yet.

"We've already surpassed what we had last year for Friday and we've got probably another four teams to enter into that league.”

And registration isn't over yet.

Would-be curlers can register well into the season, Solberg said.

"It's never too late to register; we take registration even after the league starts,” Solberg said, noting that those who sign up late wouldn't receive the early registration discounts. "It's more that we reward people for coming out early than anything else.”

Spirits were high during opening weekend, with curlers taking advantage of the learn-to-curl clinic.

New curlers also learned that some competitive curlers and club staff will be available to groom them along throughout the season.

"Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves yesterday, they're very appreciative of a free clinic, being able to learn a little bit about the sport to get them started,” Solberg said.

"So it's not that we want them to sign up and give them a little bit of experience to get them started, we want to help them develop, and if they have some goals for the season we'd like to help them complete those goals.”

The curling season starts on Oct. 11.

Starting Oct. 16, Saturdays will see the Rockers, ages 6-12, curl from 9 a.m.-10 a.m. starting Oct. 16.

The junior league, ages 10-17, will run Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. until noon.

In February, the club will hold a draw for its bring-a-friend promotion for members who brought a friend and got them interested in curling.

Two Air North return flight certificates to Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary will be given away as a result of the draw.