The history of the Eau Claire Curling Club dates back to January 14, 1876. In 2012 an article in the Eau Claire Daily Free Press was found that supports this date. That early curling was informal, but it showed how the game, born in Scotland, had found a home in Wisconsin winters.

In 1956 the Club formally incorporated as the Indianhead Curling Club. On June 20, 1956, George Carroll, J.W. Lowe, Ian MacKenzie, Sy Manix, Harold Smith and Raymond Beede signed and notarized the Articles of Incorporation, which were filed by Wisconsin Secretary of State Mrs. Glenn M. Wise on June 22, 1956. This marked the official beginning of the modern Club, which changed its name to the Eau Claire Curling Club in 1995.

The Indianhead Curling Club logo

The Eau Claire Curling Club logo

The Indianhead Curling Club began curling indoors at the Eau Claire County fair building on Fairfax Street in Altoona. The building was modest, with just two sheets of natural ice, and the sheets had to be shortened to fit. There was no water source in the winter, so ice was made by hauling in 50 gallon drums of water.

The clubroom was just as humble: an uninsulated kitchen used for 4-H meals in the summer. Members brought space heaters to keep warm, and the ice arena itself was neither insulated nor heated.

As the Club grew, the county added a larger section perpendicular to the original building, making room for two sheets of regulation ice. By the 1970s a third sheet was added, but the addition was narrow, so the sheets weren't regulation width. A "biter" (a stone just touching the edge of the sheet) was considered off the ice and removed from play. A modular viewing room was added too, but it had to be assembled each season and stored off site in the summer.

The fair building from the air in the 1970s

The first clubroom

The modular viewing room, stored off site each summer

A milestone came in 1975, when Members built a permanent clubroom with restrooms, a small kitchen, space for broomstacking and a free standing fireplace. It gave Members a place to gather on site and to store the rolled up ice mats, the viewing room, stones, brooms and other gear in the off season. A garage door made it easy to move large items, and a passage linked it to the ice.

In the same period the Club added fluorescent lighting and moved to artificial ice. A Member electrician and his able helpers installed donated lights. Eleven removable, sheet long mats were rolled out each season over a layer of sand, mostly at the south end, to level a floor that sloped about 1½ inches (some claim more than 3) from south to north. The mats were connected to a used compressor and cooling tower that liked to freeze up in the coldest weather, and stones were set on the mats to flatten them until they froze in place. Artificial ice made for a more reliable season, but it still took many, many floods to get a level playing surface.

When Members built a permanent, heated viewing room, the mats were extended to make room behind the hacks, which had been up against the walls. Longtime ice maker Bernie Bernicke wrote down his methods by hand in "The Old Days With Artificial Ice". Volunteering has always been the heartbeat of curling, and it built a community well beyond the ice.

Building the permanent clubroom, 1975

Built by Club Members

Installing the used compressor and cooling tower

The new three sheet club, around 1980

Bob Fuller's backswing, 1976

Bernie with the eleven ice mats, installed every season

The ice mats in use

Mat installation from the south end

The new clubroom entrance at left

Fluorescent lighting added

Bernie's ice making notes

Curling News, April 2012

In the summer of 1988 the Club hosted its first summer bonspiel, the Summerspiel, at Hobbs Ice Arena in Eau Claire. It grew from four sheets to five and drew as many as 40 teams. The United States Curling Association used the summer ice too, holding a Juniors Camp each July that brought young curlers from across the country to Eau Claire.

The Summerspiel ended in 2001, as more clubs offered summer ice and curlers came to prefer dedicated curling ice. It left a lasting mark on the Club and the wider curling community. Read "Summerspiel" by Chris McMahon.

In the early years only men curled at the Club. In the 1970s a Mixed League brought women in, and by the end of the decade a Women's League was established. In 2007 Nora Fuller's all women's team curled the Club's second eight ender during Women's League play. The league was set aside in 2010, then revived in 2021-22 with nearly 30 curlers, and for a few seasons a Sisterhood Spiel was held with the Rice Lake Curling Club. Read Nora Fuller's history of the early Women's League.

College curling started at the Club in the late 1980s. Bob Scott, a Club curler since 1966 and still a Member in 2025-26, helped get it going after representatives of the Illinois State Curling Association visited Eau Claire to talk about forming a College Curling Association and encouraging regional competition. Learn more about college curling and UW-Eau Claire students at the Club.

In January 1995 the Club officially became the Eau Claire Curling Club. That August, a dedicated group of Member volunteers began building a new home, led by Geoff Goodland and Doug Ottum, with help from the trades, the general contractor and many Members who gave countless hours through the fall of 1995.

The new club on Lorch Avenue in south Eau Claire opened in January 1996. During the Men's Bonspiel on January 12, longtime Member and ice maker Bernie Bernicke delivered the first ceremonial stone. Today the club has four sheets in a heated arena, a full kitchen and restrooms, and a spacious clubroom with large windows, comfortable seating, several big screen TVs, a fireplace and video of both houses on every sheet. Since the 2023-24 season, every league game and bonspiel has streamed live and on replay. There's also plenty of storage, including space to make and store deionized water.

Building the exterior walls, 1995

The shell is done and roofing begins

Ice tubes set 4 inches apart, ready for concrete

Fascia, soffit and exterior skin go on

Bernie delivers the first stone, January 12, 1996

The four sheet arena today

The Club from the air

From natural ice to artificial ice, our curling surface has changed a lot over 70 years. Better technology and technique have brought multiple scrapers, refined flooding, different pebble options, deionized water, regular and repeatable ice prep, and many trained volunteers, all committed to a high quality curling experience.

Club ice makers have left their stamp along the way, including Bernie Bernicke, many volunteers, Chris McMahon and Fred Fetzer. Jason Card has been our Ice Manager since 2014-15. He has taken many training courses, and his team of volunteers keeps the ice consistent for daily leagues, bonspiels and national championships. Jason has also served on ice crews for national curling events.

Before the 2012-13 season, Member volunteers worked with a specialist to replace the headers that carry coolant from the compressor to the ice. The wooden floor at the clubroom end of the arena was lifted, and every original connection was removed and replaced.

Jason Card, Ice Manager since 2014-15

Replacing the headers, 2012

Lifting the floor at the clubroom end

New connections going in

The finished headers

In 2010 the Club revised its Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation and became a nonprofit. That opened up new ways to raise funds, support community programs and invest in the Club's long term future.

Through the 2001-02 season the Club had about 100 Members or fewer. Membership took off after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, growing from 138 Members in 2008 to 315 in 2010-11. The Club also launched a website with online registration for leagues and bonspiels and tracking of league scores and stats. Today we have more than 300 Members curling seven days a week.

From August 2013 through December 2014, the Club developed its first Strategic Plan. Our mission is "to provide an exceptional experience through the spirit of curling," and our vision is "to sustain a diverse organization which serves, promotes and enriches curling within our community." Learn more.

In 2021 the Raising the Rocks campaign moved forward under the leadership of Spencer Eklund, and 2022-23 was the first season on our new rocks.