While purifying water removes some of the local variation curlers see from bonspiel to bonspiel, not everything can be controlled for. Last fall’s Canadian Olympic trials in Halifax — where Team Rachel Homan and Team Brad Jacobs punched their ticket to Cortina — were dogged by humidity issues stemming from the rainy weather. All ice sports user dehumidifiers to prevent frost, which kills puck movement, skate glide, and curling speed, but sometimes, wet weather plus thousands of respirating fans is too much.