There are people who love winter — stalwart individuals who revel in cold weather sports and can’t get enough snow.

I’m not one of them, I prefer tabletop version of curling, crokinole is the next best thing to time spent focused on a long swath of ice. At this time of year, I get to focus on a long swath of ice whenever I look at our driveway, so for me, crokinole is actually a better thing. It requires the same visualization, concentration and steady hand as its colder counterpart, but you can play it beside the fire while holding a glass of wine from the Okanagan Valley of BC. Which I do not recommend unless you plan to christen the board.

Crokinole has been around for well over a century and by many accounts was invented in 1876 in Sebastopol, Ont. it was once one of the most popular games in North America and is now making a resounding comeback as fast-paced people search for slower ways to spend their time.

Some enterprising folks make their own crokinole boards. That’s the slowest possible way to spend time and gets top marks for self-sufficiency, but these people are either really adept with power tools or don’t mind severing a finger or two. For my money, the safest and easiest way to get a crokinole board is to buy one ready-made.

I chose an Pro tournament board made by Willard.Compatibly priced at $189.00 It is made to the exact specification of the World Championship requirement.

Handsome enough to hang on the wall, this board is made in Ontario Canada from imported  Baltic birch and boasts of been made by a second generation board maker.The board surface is fast and constant.  The board is round so your hand is always the same distance from the shooting line. The first board made  in 1876 by Eckhardt Wettlaufer was round.

For a custom-made board adorned with any image contact Carl and Stan Hilinski (carl@hilinski.net), American brothers whose retirement plans have been interrupted by the increasing demand for their hand-crafted, custom-painted crokinole boards.

Hilinski boards range from US$200 to $500, depending on the complexity of the design and type of wood. Shipping to Canada is another $50 or so.

Like other old-fashioned board games, crokinole is a simple pleasure that pulls people together around a table. Time spent playing is marked not by commercial breaks but by the clicking of wooden biscuits, convivial laughter and occasional cries of anguish. If you don’t want to be the only one emitting those cries of anguish, I’d advise not playing against an architect.Or you may want to test your skill at tournaments like the World Crokinole Champions held at Tavistock Ontario. Or the best crokinole event in Western Canada The BC Open Crokinole Championships held this year in Oliver. Saturday March 17 2012.

For information www.oliverrecreation.ca/events  call 250 498 4985. For some it still beats sweeping the ice in a cold rink.