How To Do Everything - Curling Stones and Halfpipe Lines

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

More behind the scenes at the Milan Cortina Olympics with unsung heroes of the Winter Games. Mike and Ian talk with a curling legend, find out where those big stones come from and meet a guy snowboarders couldn't land without.You can email your burning questions to [e-mail] To Do Everything is available without sponsor messages for supporters of Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me+, who also get bonus episodes of Wait Wait Don't…Tell Me! featuring show outtakes, extended guest interviews, and a chance to play an exclusive WW+ quiz game with Peter! Sign up and support NPR at plus.npr.org.How To Do Everything is hosted by Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag. It is produced by Schuyler Swenson. Technical direction from Lorna White.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This message comes from How to Be a Better Human, a podcast from Ted for the self-help skeptic. Hear how you can laugh more in your everyday life, explained with science, insights, and hilarious stories. Listen to How to Be a Better Human, wherever you get your podcasts. If you have obsessively been watching the Olympics in Milan, Cortina, the way we have, you've probably seen a guy named Nick Monty. He's the one who skis out and paints the blue line of the world. in the snow in the half pipe and big air competition. Nick is with us now.

We have him on Zoom. And Nick, it looks like you just got off a mountain. Yeah, no, no. Just go down and ready to go up one more time for the big air. So how do you do? So all the blue lines that we see on the pipe or on the slope, you've painted that. And you're skiing while doing this.

Yes. Well, you must be pretty steady with the spray gun then, huh? Well, it's not that difficult. It's not super easy. Need a little training. Of course, you ski. You have to go up and down the pipe with more or less 20 kilos on your shoulder.

So it helps when you go backwards when you go down because more weight, more speed. Yeah. But yeah, you have to pay attention and balance a bit. Wait, so these Olympic athletes who are skiing, they train their whole lives. But you're also out there skiing. And you're skiing at the Olympics.

How much training do you do before the games? Oh, well, not as I wanted. I wanted to train a little bit before coming here in Corvach, the mountain where we have in Semoritz. Yeah. But it was always snowing, so the pipe was not shaped, was not clean. So I could just came here and remember how it did last year. So what is your title as the person who's doing this? What's your job title? Here it's chief of color, chief of die crew, chief of color. That's an awesome title. Yeah.

I love it. Do people call you chief? Yeah, you can. Nobody does it, but yeah, you can. Okay, okay. So this is happening, like the lines need to be repainted whenever someone, you know, lands funny and chips the blue. So you're going out during competition between skiers and snowboarders, right? It's possible.

Yeah, it's possible. For example, the last days during slope style, we had three. to recolor the lines during the training or during the competition. Like yesterday was the TV. So I wait on the knuckle next to the jump, hiding from the cameras. Yeah. I wait that the rider goes by, the camera finished filming, and then when it's gone, I can go. I do maybe one landing or two if I'm really quick.

And then I have to wait again for the next rider. Wow. And so when the crowd sees you come out, what is the reaction? Well, here in Livigno for the big air, it's big. Yeah, the crowd loves it. I just hear a little bit. I try to be concentrated on what I do, but I hear a bit, you know, oh, and when I finish the line, wow. Wow. Was that a surprise when you started getting a reaction from the crowd? Were you expecting that? No, no. It was a big surprise, yes. Has anything changed about the way you do what you do, knowing that the crowd is cheering for you? Yes and no.

I mean, I hate when I don't do the jobs perfect or super nice that always hear even more. If I do a little mistake, the old crowd is down looking. So I see it first, I get angry with myself and then the crowd is not happy with the people and everything. Have you noticed that, Nick? Have you watched a ski competition afterwards? and notice like, oh, that line was crooked. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. After I started this, you know, when I see videos on social media or whatever, I look both the riders and whatever, and then I look, oh, let's see how they do the blue lines. Oh, no, they're not nice. Okay. I can do better like this. I mean, I can learn something.

Yeah. That's right. We got to keep growing, right? Yeah. Yeah. Nick, you must be one of the first people out on that snow before the skiers hit it, right? Yes. Have you ever learned anything that you have to tell them?

Like, oh, you guys, it's too slow or it's too fast. Does anyone come to you and ask what's the conditions? Not the athlete directly, but I always give the feedback to the or the fees guys or the chief of competition or anything. I tell them, look, the landing there, it's not nice. Maybe there is a hole. I remember last week one day, they didn't redo the landing really perfect. So after a rail where everybody was landing the day before, there was a little hole. And of course, like you said, I'm the first one that goes on the landing and the first one that touches them.

So I called the shapers right away. I said, guys, look, there is a big hole. So if you can try to do something. Are you ever tempted, Nick, to make a target for somebody so they should know where to land? Like, go here. That helps them out? No. I did the opposite, for example, on the half pipe.

a couple of years ago. There was a place where a stone was coming out. So they told me to make the round like target. So everybody sees it and avoids it. Oh, like a street with a pothole. They just paint. Yeah. Oh, smart.

Or like draw a heart for somebody. You know, that would be very romantic. Oh. You could send a message. Yeah. You know, I was waiting Snoop Dog to come here and we wanted to write Snoopy on the snow. But then he didn't come up to where we have the warehouse. He just came for the half pipe, but yeah, we had the idea.

Yeah, you could find him near a pipe. Well, Nick, thank you so much for talking to us about this. Thank you, guys. It's been a pleasure. This is How to Do Everything. I'm Mike. And I'm Ian. We're going to stay at the Olympics.

We, of course, are not actually at the Olympics. We're on our couch. On the phone with people who are. One of those people is Rich Ruinan. He is an American curling. legend. Rich is a two-time national champion, but he never made it to an Olympic team. Now, this year he's an alternate. We have him on the phone. Rich, where are you right now? I am standing outside the curling arena in Cortina, looking at mountains and an old, beautiful

arena from 1956. And when do you guys, when do you hit the ice today? Well, we hit the ice in about an hour and a half. Oh, boy. Wow. That's up about five here. So, okay. That's our first game. Yeah, I saw, I think somebody said you have the potential to become, you, Rich, have the potential to become the oldest American athlete in Winter Olympics history. That's true. How does that feel? It's awesome.

You know, I played my first trial to go to the Olympics was in 1988 when it was a demonstration sport. I played with my dad and my brother. We missed the final 24. or whatever it was in the country by one game. And then in 22, I played and made the final 20-some teams, but we didn't win. And then I'd take a few years off because I went to law school. And I played, but not super competitively. But basically since about 2002, I've been playing to go to the Olympics,

and I've had some heartbreaks, you know, a few, I think three or four second places. So just missing the Olympics and then a couple of thirds and fourth. So it's been a whirlwind, and it's fun playing with the young guys. They're keeping me young again and working my butt off, you know. So, Rich, you went to law school. Are you a lawyer now? Yes, I am. I'm a personal injury lawyer at TSR injury law in Minneapolis.

As a personal injury lawyer, do you work with people who slip and fall on the ice? Yeah, we do. That's, you know, one of the jokes is the main way. I can get in as if someone slips and falls on ice and hurts themselves on my team, then I can get in. So kind of weird that that's what I do for a living, although those are very few of our cases. But, you know, but, yeah, it's kind of funny.

So you help your teammate up and give him your business card and take his place? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But, no, yeah, all I got to do is throw one rock, and I will become the oldest U.S. Winter Olympian ever. Wait, so. I'm hoping we get in there. Just so we all know, like, how old are you?

I'm 54. I'll be 55 at the end of March. Okay. You know, it's been a long, hard road, and just to make it after the heartbreaks and how hard we've had to work is been awesome. The athlete village has been great, and the people from other countries are just fantastic. Of course, we know a lot of them

because we curl against the same guys all the time around the world. Sure. So we're having a good time and hanging out, It's been great. I know most of their coaches. I played against most of the coaches here. Back in the day, because they're all in their 50s and 60s. They're like, I played you in 2002.

So anyway, it's kind of funny. Anyway, I got to go, though, guys, because I got to get into. Oh, yeah, of course you do. Okay. Can I ask you just one? Can I ask you one quick question before you go? Sure. Just when you were talking about sweeping, I just wondered,

when you're at home sweeping in your kitchen, you know, just to clean up, are you thinking about curling? Oh, yeah. Anytime you had to sweep the garage or something, you're kind of laughing like, hey, this is, you know, this is how I do it and curling, you know. But I got to go. Okay. Okay. Run. Good luck. Take care.

Okay. Bye bye. Bye bye. Nice talking to you. Bye-bye. Well, shortly after, really right after we got off the phone with Rich, he went into the curling arena. and this happened. And here is Rich Rewitt in 54 years of age,

stepping in and able to make his Olympic debut. And Kevin, he was so emotional at the Olympic trials. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get Wise. Download the Wise app today, or visit

wise.com. T's and C's apply. Hey, if you have a question for us, we are still taking questions in between watching the Olympics. You can send them to us at how to at npr.org. Really, we're about to run out of Olympics. So we need your questions. Yeah. We need you to need us. These don't have to be sports related or winter related.

They can be about anything. So, Mike, something happened earlier in the show. Yeah. That just kind of went by. Okay. And do you know what I'm thinking about? I have no idea what you're thinking about. Okay.

I really don't. Let me see if I can, I'll bring up the tape play before you. Remember when we talked to Nick Monty, the chief of color? Yeah, you know, I was waiting Snoop Dog to come here and we wanted to write Snoopy on the snow, but then he didn't come up to where we have the warehouse. He just came for the half-pipe, but yeah, we had the idea. Yeah. You could find him near a pipe.

When you heard that earlier in the show, were you surprised I left it in? Or did you think, what did you? I want you to know, I only did that for you. I only did that for you. I know it's the kind of thing that if we heard someone else do that, we would both punch ourselves in the face. But I wanted to do it just for you. Yeah, you know, I was waiting Snoop Dog to come here and we wanted to write Snoop. on the snow, but then he didn't come up to where we have the warehouse. It just came for the

half pipe, but yeah, we had the idea. Yeah, you could find him near a pipe. Do you feel like, okay, so by including it and then now bringing it up, because I didn't know where you do this, do you feel like this, you're giving me a chance to apologize? I just, if you want a chance to apologize. You know what? We've talked about this before when it comes to downhill skiing, right? We've talked about this, in this, maybe not in this, we didn't talk about this episode, previous episodes, In order to get gold, you have to take risks when you're going down the mountain, right? And I feel like same thing applies here. In order for us to get gold, we have to take risks.

And in that moment, I took a risk. I knew what I was doing. You know what, Ian? Let's hear it one more time. If you're like us, you probably can't get enough curling. But right now, we're going to test that. We're going to try and give you enough curling. The stones they use, the curling stones they use, all come from Kay's of Scotland.

And Rick English is the operation manager at Kay's. Rick, do we ever write that every curling stone that we see at the Olympics, you all made it? Yeah, so all the stones you see at the Olympics comes for one uninhabited island, 10 miles off the west coast. And on that island, you've got two different parts of the island. You've got the south side and the north side. And on the south side, you've got your rails of coast. Craig Common Green, which makes the body of the stone on the north side. You've got the Eels of Craig

Bluehorn. Then when you put the two bits of granite together, makes a perfect curling stone. Wow. And then, so do you, you get an order like the Milan Olympics needs this many curling stones and then you deliver them and then they're just for that games? Or how does it work? No, no, no, no, not just necessarily that. No, selling stones to clubs all over the world. so just now we've just done two orders for Canada then we've got another order in Alabama but there's curling all over we've sold to some there's an obscure place last year

that you would never guess that I sent curling stones to yeah where'd you send them? Antarctica really I guess they can do it outside they can do it outside the person who took the stones actually phoned me to tell me that the stones

were working. Oh, that's great. So it's probably the most southerly game of Curland there's ever been. Yeah, I think so. 100% yeah. I'm curious about this island. So have you been to the island where you get the... Yeah, have you been. Yeah, I've been, yeah. So the island itself, as I says, so it's about 10 miles off the coast. And to be honest, if you've actually Google Ails of Craig, it's kind of shaped like a curlin stone, which is really strange. It really is. The island itself, as I say, is uninhabited. It's effectively a nature reserve. We go out there with ecologists.

One of us has to be a certified rat catcher because there used to be rats in the island many years ago. So we have to set rat traps in the landing craft before we go. Rat traps round about the island. So there's a whole planning and it's not just as simple. He's jumped on a boat, go and get some granite and bring it back. So, Rick, when you're watching the Olympics, Are you looking at those stones with a critical eye

and thinking like, oh, that's not a good rock or that's one of ours? No, because you know how tough and durable the material is. We're watching it fully pride, that's better watching. We're knowing that this stones have been made in a small factory in Scotland and we make it with hand. And there's no many places like us left in the world

and it's 175 years old. So like, when I'm watching, I'm like, wow, that was incredible aim or incredible sweeping. You might be thinking that stone looks amazing. Yeah, that's what we do, to be honest. My partner, she's kind of get fed up at watching it, to be honest, because it's always on the telly. I've never seen so much in all my life,

and it's kind of on them, try to get the kids involved in it to have a look at the stones. Are they impressed? When they watch it, I'd made that. Impressed for two settings, then they're way back on their PlayStation's or their iPads. These kids, they don't get it. No. Let me ask you this. You're watching the Olympics now.

You're paying attention to curling. Do you think Canada was cheating when they touched extra against Sweden? To be honest, I'm not going to get involved with that kind of chat, because, but I'm no sure. It's the same as anything, isn't it? If you're chucking a stone or you're throwing a stone, I don't think it would be intentional. It's probably more like a musselmo.

I mean, that's the way a thrown, that's where release. I don't think there's any malice or any intentional. cheating behind it to be brutally honest. Good. Maybe a way to think about it is the stone is so nice. Who could blame him for wanting to touch it? I think it was more of a reaction it got most of the views, to be honest. Yeah, yeah.

Well, Rick, thank you so much for telling us about this stuff. No, no problem at all. That's absolutely fine. Well, that does it for this week's show. What'd you learn, Ian? I learned that there is a job called Chief of Color. Yeah, right. Which I think probably if you were, you know, if you were a kid and somebody said that's a job,

you would imagine that person is in charge of filling the world with color. Like choosing all the colors that we experienced just going outside. I declare the trees green. Oh, yeah. And really it's just the one color. It's just the one color.

It's just the chief of blue. He's just drawing blue lines. It's a lot of power, though. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. He could write anything. Oh, that's actually a really good point. he wanted all the skiers to come over to his house.

Yeah. He could do that. Yep. At the end, it's at the end. He's got the big air final. And he's got his lines that go perpendicular across the hill. And then he has two parallel lines at the end. They're probably like, oh, this is the way.

And it just takes them right into his house. And he's prepared a meal for them. I thought, uh, maybe you guys would like to try some Italian cuisine. How to Do Everything is produced. by Skyler Swenson with technical direction from Lorna White. Some of our music this week came from Moby Grades. Please send us your questions. Send them to us at how-to at npr.org. I'm Ian.

And I'm Mike. Thanks.