When it comes to the sport of curling, there are few things more important to active players than the quality of the ice conditions offered at a facility.

The Whitehorse Curling Club knows this better than anyone, which is why the not-for-profit organization has Doug Gee as its head ice technician.

"Doug has got a lot of experience and he's a perfectionist at what he does," said Jon Solberg, business manager at the Whitehorse Curling Club. "He has been to some very large national events in Canada and learning from the best in the business and he has applied that here at the club."

The process involved in maintaining championship level curling ice isn't an easy one and takes as much time as it does effort to consistently produce.

An average day for Gee involves starting in the morning around 10:30 a.m. to prep the ice for the club's first practice of the day, which starts at 11:30 a.m. and runs until 1:30 p.m.

Gee begins his first trip out onto the ice by running the mop over the ice surface in order to remove any possible dirt that might have been brought in from the previous night's competition.

After the ice is clean, depending on how it was treated the night before, he would either re-pebble it and then clip it or just clip it.

Pebbling is done using the pebble can, which is a nozzle that sprays small droplets of water up in the air and as the water comes down it freezes instantly, making little bumps on the ice. These irregularities created on the ice surface allow the rocks to curl in a match or practice.

The process involved with clipping the ice is performed using a machine that runs over the curling rink's surface to make all of the pebbles a uniform height. Clipping the ice allows the rocks to move at a faster and consistent speed when thrown.

After the conclusion of the first practice period, Gee then gets right back to work on the ice.

The first step is to scrape away all of the old pebble, which is worn down at this point, and replace it with two new layers. The process is called double pebbling and it involves using two different types of pebble heads.

A more fine pebble head with cold water forms the base pebble, while the top pebble is created by using a medium sized nozzle with hot water.

Gee then clips the ice for a second time and finishes by running the mop over the surface once again to clear away the snow created after it has been clipped.

Gee has to be finished by 4:30 p.m., which is when the second practice time for members of the club begins.

After the second practice time wraps up at 6:00 p.m., Gee once again goes back onto the ice to double pebble it and then clip before calling it a day. He is usually finished by around 7 p.m.

Gee, who has been an active curler for 30 years, began learning the ice making trade in Whitehorse in the late '80s. A job offer moved him to Grande Prairie, Alta. for a couple years beginning in 1991-92.

After his time in Grande Prairie, he came back to Whitehorse and has been working at the curling club ever since. In 1998 he took over as the club's head ice technician.

Among his list of impressive accomplishments include working on the ice at the 2006 Brier.

Gee credits his success to the people he has worked with over the years and said the Whitehorse Curling Club provides him with all of the equipment needed to be successful at creating a high standard in ice making.

"This is a great facility to make ice," he said. "It's a world class facility, the club has worked at trying to make sure they have everything and that makes it a lot easier to make good ice."

The club's ice budget is more than $100,000 during the fiscal year, which Solberg said was about average for a curling facility.

Besides the state-of-the-art equipment Gee uses, the club also uses a water purification system. The system removes all of the minerals to create a pure form of water, which is free of impurities.

The end result is a stronger pebble that won't break down as easily as it would if it was created through using impure water.

Additionally there is an electrically run compressor, which is used to keep the ice at a consistent temperature.

Solberg, who is also active in the sport, said there are a lot of advantages for players in having great ice conditions at the curling facility.

"Some of the benefits, we get to prepare on the same ice surface day in and day out, which allows us to get very consistent with throwing the rock," he said. "It makes instruction for new curlers a lot easier as well because they don't have to throw the rock down the ice with as much force, so they can work on their slide and delivery."

He said the better ice conditions help with attracting new members and retaining old ones.

"The Whitehorse Curling Club has been very fortunate to have tremendous ice conditions over the past 10 years and with Doug that gives us that consistency to bring back our membership year in and year out," Solberg said. "With having championship ice conditions gives us the opportunities at marketing the club."

Other features at the Whitehorse Curling Club included a lounge area, which Solberg also said helps attract and maintain members.

Besides the membership revenues, the club also benefits from local businesses, such as Skookum Asphalt and fundraising initiatives from Lotteries Yukon and the Community Development Fund for the City of Whitehorse to help offset any unforeseen capital expenditures.