For more than 3 decades, the Invermere BC Curling Club has hosted the annual Bonspiel on the Lake, a unique 3-day curling event played on the ice of Lake Windermere. Sixty-four teams from as far away as Montana and Washington in the US as well as Alberta and BC, come to test their skills against each other the third week-end of January as part of Invermere’s Snowflake Festival.

No matter how good the teams are, Mother Nature can derail even the best of the best. Over the years, the weather has provided every kind of challenge – one year the falling snow would make it almost impossible to get the rocks down the ice and the next would be perfect. As happened for two years, the weather was so mild the ice was melting and the bonspiel had to be moved indoors. The lake is the great equalizer and even the best team can lose to a bunch of beginners.

Each team is guaranteed four curling games, and the entry fee includes a dinner and dance (tickets for each team member) at the Columbia Valley Centre. The top team in each of the four divisions receives a coveted handcrafted Bavin glass curling rock. The top 16 teams win a merchandise prize. Not many new spots are available for the Bonspiel on the Lake each year so interested teams should call early to be placed on the list.