Success in sport is measured in many forms, not just by how much money you earn or the amount of championship rings on your finger.

When it comes to hosting an inaugural event of any size, success has a lot less to do with money and prestige than it does with the overall atmosphere and experience for the competitors.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have one of the world's best curlers on your side either, especially when he's providing a ringing endorsement.

Twelve teams lined up for their shot at $20,000 in prize money during this past weekend's Nuway Crushing Cash Spiel, a World Curling Tour sanctioned event held by the Whitehorse Curling Club (WCC).

Edmonton's Randy Ferbey, along with third Don Walchuk, second Chris Schille and lead Arnold Asham, took the top prize of $6,000 with a final victory over Whitehorse's Paul Hunter rink. But more importantly, the celebrity foursome left the Yukon with a promise to spread the good word and help make the inaugural spiel an annual success.

'I've probably curled in 1,500 curling clubs in my life and you don't see much better than this,' said Ferbey. 'This might be the best I've ever curled in. The ice was unbelievably good, as good as you can play on anywhere.'

Ferbey, a six-time Canadian champion and four-time world champion, faced some difficult competition during the three-day event, especially during Sunday morning's semifinal against the Yukon's Wade Scoffin rink, where the two teams were in a tie coming home.

Both Scoffin and third James Buyck made some excellent shots during the game, but the visitors pulled it together in the 10th end and walked away with a berth in the final against Hunter.

'They played extremely well against us,' acknowledged Ferbey. 'We were very fortunate to get away with a win. But we battled, went right down to the wire.'

Asked if he was nervous at any point during the game, particularly when he was trailing prior to the ninth end, Ferbey smiled.

'No ... maybe the young guy (Schille) gets a little excited, but overall, we're here to have fun. I don't think nerves come into it at all. If they had won, we'd still be sitting up here having fun.

'I think we shut down the bar every night we were here, so that was good.'

Scoffin said he was proud of his rink's play in the semifinal, pointing out how close they were to taking it in the ninth end.

'The ninth-end raise takeout probably missed by 1/16 of an inch. Same with the last shot in the 10th as well.

'We did everything we intended to do. We were able to be creative with making an impact. Our goal was to play Randy Ferbey and we were pleased to be able to do that. The money to some degree is secondary.'

In Sunday afternoon's final, Ferbey made it look easy as he prevailed over Hunter, third Craig Tuton, second John Yeulet and lead Pat Molloy 10-2.

The Yukon skip said by the time they reached the final, his team had just run out of gas.

'We wanted to flip, but John, our second, really wanted to play Ferbey,' Hunter laughed.

'We were just too tired and too sore. We ran out of steam at the end.

'They were great guys to curl with, great sports. You could tell they put a lot of work into their shots.'

Hunter, who represented the territory at last year's Canadian senior men's curling championship, said his team struggled somewhat at the start of the weekend. They only made it to the playoffs because of a tiebreaker, he said, although they did 'have their moments' of good curling.

'All in all, I think we're way ahead of where we were last year. We did this mostly to prepare for the seniors (playdowns).'

Hunter and his teammates still walked away with $3,500 while Scoffin and Alaska's Leland Rich rink, which lost to Hunter in the semis, each took home $2,250. The Yukon's Bruce Hunt, Nicole Baldwin, George Hilderman and Steve Fraser rinks each collected $1,500 for their efforts.

'It's been a tremendous event,' summed up Scoffin. 'To be able to have it here in Whitehorse is great. Hats off to all the organizers. They've done a bang-up job, especially for the first one.'

Derek Charlton, the chair of the Nuway Crushing Cash Spiel's organizing committee, said he was pleased with the event's turnout, even though they only drew 12 teams out of a possible 24.

'It's the first year of the event. Any event needs a good base to start and I think we've absolutely accomplished that.'

A lot of local curling teams were hesitant to enter because of the $750 fee, he explained, though he pointed out that isn't actually much on the World Curling Tour market.

Over the next week, the organizing committee will be meeting to discuss the 2006 event and make recommendations to the WCC for 2007.

Charlton expects to see at least another four teams next year, plus an increase in prize money. Provinces like B.C. and Alberta should be natural links for WCC events, he pointed out, because of the flights through Air North.

'I think we can definitely work with Air North as well as local hoteliers to provide packages and draw more teams in.'

Charlton said they've already heard from a curling team in Seattle that many be interested in attending the cash spiel next year, and Asham, who is the president and founder of Asham Curling Supplies, insisted he will be bringing a team back as well.

Schille, who has been recruited to play with 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of Newfoundland, said he would spread the word on the east coast.

'Word gets out petty quickly,' said Ferbey. 'It's only going to get better and better. This could become one of the premium stops on the tour.'