The Whitehorse Curling Club was abuzz with action on Thursday night as the 67th annual International Bonspiel got underway.

As soon as it struck 6:30 the curlers in the first draw were on the ice. All eight sheets filled with the teams playing in either the mixed, women’s or men’s bracket.

Out on the sheets, it was loud. The rocks hitting each other echoed through the rink and the calls of “hard” or “sweep” were heard at every sheet.

Jon Solberg said this year the bonspiel has 40 teams across the three brackets, up from 32 teams the previous two years. There are eight women’s teams, 18 mixed, and 14 men’s teams. There are also seven teams from Alaska.

Solberg said the event used to host over 100 teams.

“The history of the Whitehorse Curling Club International Bonspiel would have involved over 100 teams involved,” said Solberg. “It used to be over the course of four days and the curling was around the clock. It was a lot of fun, but it is still a ton of fun.”

The bonspiel is a way for the curling club to enjoy the end of the season and look back on the successes of the year.

“The International Bonspiel is about an opportunity to kind of celebrate our successes in curling throughout the year,” said Solberg. “And it is kind of a good way to close out the season just coming out and having fun. Maybe bringing out a friend or a colleague who doesn’t typically curl and throwing a fun team in to curl.”

The bonspiel is for players of all skill levels.

“Our prize structure is not based on who is the best team,” said Solberg. “By the end of the weekend, most teams will end up with a prize.”

Since the bonspiel is a celebration of the year that was at the club it is also a good time for the participants to socialize with the people they had been playing with or against all year.

“It’s a good social with people they know and have been playing with most of the year,” said Solberg. “For the folks out of town, it is a great way to catch up with the neighbours from Canada for our Alaska counterparts. From the communities we have a team from Carcross so it is nice to see the communities coming out.”

Two weekends after the bonspiel, another international bonspiel will be held in Alaska with a Canada delegation going down.

“We reciprocate and send teams down to their events to participate and have fun and reconnect,” said Solberg.

“Curling is a big networking opportunity. It is a large web of people staying connecting and having a social and we are proud of that part of curling.”

Solberg said one of the big draws for Alaskan participation is the quality of the ice.

“Our ice is some of the best ice you will find anywhere in the world really,” said Solberg. “The Alaska folks know we have really good ice conditions here and we pride ourself on that.

“That is one of the reasons we always have great participation from them, I think, is they want to come and curl on our ice and hone their skills based on optimal ice conditions we have available to them.”

Solberg said the bonspiel is about celebrating curling by encouraging everybody to play and try it out while being social and making new friends at the rink.

The International Bonspiel draws will go through until Sunday.