Ice stock sport, also known as Bavarian Curling (or Eisstockschiessen / Eisstockschießen in German), is a winter sport that is similar to the Winter Olympic sport of curling. Ice stocks refers to the implement that competitors slide across the ice surface. The ice stock has a gliding surface to which a 30m stick is attached. Competitors slide the ice stocks over an ice surface, either aiming for a target, or to cover the longest distance.
In the target shooting version, two teams of four players compete head-to-head, and the team with the most points after six innings wins the game. An inning consists of all eight players shooting one stock towards that target, also known as the “Daube.”
A team scores by shooting the closest stock to the Daube. The team with the closest stock at the end of an inning is given three points. The team with the closest stock also gets two more points for every additional stock that landed closer to the Daube than the competitor’s closest stock.
The sport is traditionally played on an ice surface, though in summer some events are also held on tarmacs.
Ice stock sport was a demonstration sport during the 1936 and 1964 Winter Olympics, though it was never made into an official Olympic sport. It is still popular in many European nations: Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Czechia and Slovenia.
Similar Sports
- Curling — Winter Olympic sport in which stones slide on a sheet of ice towards a target area
- Wheelchair Curling — a variation of curling in which athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs use a wheelchair to play the sport.
- Shuffleboard — players use cues to push and slide weighted discs along a long court into a scoring area.
Related Pages
- List of Boules-type sports
- Ice Stock Sport at the Olympics
- Curling at the Olympic Games
- Olympic Demonstration Sports
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports