"Until the ice goes away, we never give up hope," Manorburn ice master John Campbell, of Alexandra, said yesterday.
Ice on the dam, near Alexandra, was about 5cm thick but would need to be 10cm before a bonspiel was contemplated.
"There's been a handful of skaters out there most days and it can cope with a handful, but it's not thick enough yet to cope with too many. It's not good and solid enough for curling yet." The ice was measured by the curling ice masters every few days.
"We like to keep an eye on it."
If the frosts continued, there was the possibility of staging a curling tournament or a club match on Manorburn next week.
Lotte (9) and Otis (11) Rayner and their mother Mary Tritt, of Alexandra, enjoyed having a wide expanse to skate on at the dam yesterday.
"It's cool to be able to skate where no-one has been before," Otis said.
Lotte, who was practising her routine for the Otago-Southland ice-skating championships in Gore today, said it was great to have the dam to themselves.
New Zealand Curling Association ice master, Stewart McKnight, of Ranfurly, said the Idaburn dam at Oturehua had nowhere near the depth of ice needed for a bonspiel.
"There would have to be a lot more, and harder, frosts before there's any chance of one here," he said.
"There's a bit of rough stuff [weather] expected this weekend though, and that's not good for the ice, either."
A national bonspiel was held on the Idaburn last July; the first in three years. More than 270 curlers from 33 clubs throughout the country took part.
