You could tell it was nice outside by the way the sun glinted off the brown long-neck bottles that were jammed in the snow.

Talk about your bar-ometers.

The ice was nice and so were the people Saturday at the third annual outdoor curling bonspiel at Southport Marina. The event - part of Bismarck's Flurry Fest - brought out a couple hundred people to watch the on-ice activity and take part in the off-ice frivolity.

Believe it or not, curling is a thinking man's game. And, OK, it's a drinking man's game, too.

"What did Sports Illustrated say when they came up here and wrote about it? Curling is a combination of shuffleboard, chess and New Year's Eve. That's definitely what this is all about,"Dave Nelson, one of the bonspiel's organizers, said. "Curling is curling and the game is the game, but it's really about the social side of it."

The bonspiel started Friday night under the lights behind The Pier restaurant and bar. It ran all day Saturday and will wrap up with the championship match at 2 p.m. today.

"The bar was absolutely packed last night, and I bet it will be again tonight,"Nelson said Saturday. "People have really gotten into this (event)."

Fourteen teams took part in the 'spiel, but Nelson thinks the tournament will be bigger next year. If it is, that could mean more work for Tony Nagel, Greg Neutz and Dwayne Schmidt. They spent a week and a half getting the ice ready for the event. They cleared the snow, painted the houses and cut in the hacks, from which the curlers slide.

"Those guys are the ones who really made this happen,"Nelson said. "It's nice to have it outside. It's a throwback. It gets back to the roots of curling."

No one knows exactly how far back those roots go, but historians have noted that curling was very popular in Scotland in the 18th Century. As was the case then, the ice on the Missouri River marina is a far cry from the perfect indoor surface at the Capital Curling Club.

"There are pressure ridges out there and cracks to watch out for," curler Doug Prchal said. "It's difficult to get the rock to do what you expect it to do."

If anyone knows about outdoor recreation, it's Prchal. He's director of the state Parks and Recreation Department.

"It's a good thing for the sport of curling, and it fits with the spirit of Flurry Fest,"Prchal said Saturday, while watching a match. "You couldn't ask for a better day."

No kidding.

Just a look at all those shiny beer bottles and smiling faces could have told you that.

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@;bismarcktribune.com.)