The ice is cold and the competition is hot at the Mayflower Curling Club for the 2011 Canada Games. Featuring six sheets of ice and plenty of viewing room, the facility has fans flocking to watch women's curling in week 1, while the men's teams compete during week 2. Curling fans from all over the country are here in Halifax to cheer on their team and take part in the festivities.

Curling has a rich history and an avid following in Nova Scotia. There are 35 clubs in the province, including the Halifax Curling Club -- the oldest continuously active club in North America and the fourth oldest organized curling club in Canada.

I talked to HCC's General Manager Donald MacDougall, who gave me a bit of history. Founded in 1824 as a pond-curling society, the organization migrated from place to place as weather and ice conditions changed. In 1872 things became more permanent when they built a covered shed on Tower Road that housed two flooded sheets. In 1899 they moved into their current digs on South Bland Street.

Nova Scotians love their curling, and the action doesn't stop with the Canada Games. From March 11-15 the Halifax Curling Club hosts the Provincial Mixed Tournament, where competitive teams of two men and two women compete in a challenging five-day playdown.

And clubs all across the province have events slated throughout the year. From the Ladies Blarney Stone Bonspiel at the Baddeck Curling Club March 12-13, to the Curl for Cancer at Port Hawkesbury's Strait Area Community Curling Club April 8-9, and the Clare Curling Association's Summer Spiel July 21-24, rocks are being thrown all over Nova Scotia.