Has anyone here ever skated on plastic?

[mikawendy]

...and I don't mean using your credit card to pay for ice time, and I don't mean the plastic by the edge of the ice...

When I was a little kid, a friend of the family took me to see an ice skating show that was put on in the gymnasium of the local high school. They didn't make ice--instead they skated on interloking white plastic squares.

Now that I skate, I realize that this must be very odd. Is it terrible on the blades? You don't get a resurface, do you? Is it slower than on ice?

[Michigansk8er]

I've skated on it before. It was years ago. I remember thinking it was terrible, and very hard to get an edge. At that time I was living in Virginia Beach and it was their idea of an "ice" rink.

[Justine_R]

It sounds awful, to be honest i cant even imagine it to be honest and i bet it is terrible on your blades.

How do you do toepick jumps?

[bbtano]

I haven't ever done it, but have seen people skating on plastic for floats in parades.

[96.23??]

Yuck just thinking about it makes me cringe! I hate watching people ruin their blades! I don't go anywhere without my skate guards, not even on the rubber mats.

[Elsy2]

No, but my coach has. As I recall, she said you need your blades sharpened very often doing this. I think she said after every time you skate on it! She also said there is some oily surface stuff on there, so if you fall, it's YUK.

[blurrysarah]

Apparently it feels very "muddy" to stroke on, dramatically shortens the life of your blades, is expensive, and can't be resurfaced. Probably best to avoid it.

[TashaKat]

Yes and it wrecks your blades. They need sharpening a LOT more often than if you skate on ice.

I found it was like trying to skate through 'rubber' .... that's the feeling I got anyway .... I could 'do' everything on it but it felt SOOO slow. I wouldn't skate on it by choice.

[NickiT]

I did a few years ago but I didn't dare use my own skates so used the hire ones, but they had absolutely no edges at all so I could barely stand up on the stuff. I'm trying to get out of skating on this stuff again as the kids' school is hiring a plastic rink for Christmas. I wouldn't risk my own skates on it as I don't want to ruin my blades, so I'd rather not skate on it at all, especially since everyone will be expecting me to do some "tricks" on it!

Nicki

[Mrs Redboots]

A friend of mine was in a show in the south of France this summer on plastic ice, and she said that at first it was awful, but you got used to it.

[kayskate]

I have not skated on plastic "ice" before, but someone said it feels muddy and it is very difficult to stroke. I have skated on real ice that is so soft and mushy in a rink that it was difficult to skate and it felt like I was pushing through quicksand. When I first stepped on it, my blades felt stuck.

Kay

[Justine_R]

Well skating on plastic must ruin the blades but sometimes when i go to the public skate the ice is so slippy u couldnt really skate on it.

Has anyone ever noticed at there arena that the ice when it has been cleaned is very wet in some parts?

[icesk8rchiq]

I skated on plastic ice once for a short skating show. It felt very strange, like I could not control my edges and even where I was going sometimes. It was extremely hard to spin, and I didn't even *think* about jumping!;)

[Black Sheep]

In the mid-1970s, Chicago's Century Mall had a mini Christmas skating show on the ground floor by the great glass elevator. That didn't last long, and maybe it was because the postage-stamp square of "ice" was plastic.

[blurrysarah]

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink4.htm also mentions that ice made with impure water can have a "sticky" feel to it.

[singerskates]

No, I haven't skated on plastic but I have skated on paint and came to a dead halt and flew through the air luckily landing on two feet.

[LWalsh]

Oh god! Yes I did this. Asbury Park Convention Hall c. 1979 some sort of sports expo. There was six of us or so and we did a short synchro routine to "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer. I shudder just thinking about this one. The plastic ice was incredibly sticky and hard. And yes, it was sprayed with oil.

[Black Sheep]

Incidentally, "Plastic Ice" would be a good name for a rock band....8-)

[danibellerika]

I have never seen or heard of before until now ut just the thought of it makes me cringe. Ick! I still probably am not imagining it like it really is.

[Justine_R]

Ugh dosent it sound the worst danibellerika?

[Terri C]

Originally posted by Michigansk8er
I've skated on it before. It was years ago. I remember thinking it was terrible, and very hard to get an edge. At that time I was living in Virginia Beach and it was their idea of an "ice" rink.


Where was this in Virginia Beach?? I live here!!!
There is a very tiny rink in Virginia Beach- along with a dual NHL surface rink in nearby Chesapeake!

[pennybeagle]

I have two coaches, both of whom skated in "plastic shows" in the 1980s and 90s, and they say that while it is possible to jump and spin, it is incredibly difficult.

The touring version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular has a "plastic ice" segment that features adagio skaters (I think that's pairs skating that focuses on lifts, carries, and overhead spins, etc rather than throws and jumps).

The nice thing about having coaches who have experience doing "plastic tours" is that they know a LOT about sharpening and rebuilding blades!!!

[dooobedooo]

A very experienced skater (doing triple jumps) did some skating shows on plastic ice - told me you can't do toe jumps or doubles; it's really only single axels, salchows, loops. I doubt if you can actually learn how to figure skate on plastic, either. It's really for tots to fall around on, and even they would get bored quickly, it's so slow!

[Mrs Redboots]

I know that my friend, the same one as is in Panto in Canterbury, was welcomed with open arms and instantly given a lead role because she could do handstands and so on, even with her boots on. But she seems to have had enormous fun in this show, even if it was on plastic ice.

[danibellerika]

Originally posted by Justine_R
Ugh dosent it sound the worst danibellerika?

Yeah! Does anyone have any pics or something that could give me an idea? Thanks!

[skatesnrides]

Trying to post a link to EZ Glide...
Sorry, I can't get the link to work but it's called Ez-Glide 350 Artificial Ice Surface. The website has a lot of information about it, including a few pictures of the "ice" pieces and how they lock together.

[danibellerika]

Thanks a million. I'll check it out now. EZ glide huh? LOL How misleading.

[NickiT]

At my kids' school fair today they had a plastic ice rink and I was offered to bring mine, and the kids' skates to skate on it but I declined for fear of ruining our blades. My kids were keen to try it out so I got them some dreaded hire boots which had absolutely no edges on them at all and the first toe pick was missing too. Of course they both got on expecting to be able to skate like they do on ice, but both spent most of the time falling over. To be honest, with such blunt blades I don't think anyone would stand much of a chance at doing anything on it. I tried to explain to my youngest why it was so hard, explaining that there were no edges on the blades because they were so blunt, but the guy in charge got a huffy saying that he did keep his skates sharp8O !! Anyway I'm glad I avoided having to skate on it - I felt sorry for my kids cos everyone knows they skate regularly on ice and was expecting them to do stuff, but it just couldn't be done.

Nicki

[melanieuk]

Sinead and John Kerr have done it!



http://www.sineadandjohn.com/article003.asp

[28/01/01] - Mobile Synthetic Ice Rink

Last year we became involved with a promotions company who wanted us to perform at various functions on plastic ice, which can be laid in about two hours and is about 20ft x 20ft. Our first event was the launch of the new Mercedes C in Liverpool.

Despite feeling strange to skate on at first, we feel it is good for us to skate in front of a crowd as often as possible and we have really enjoyed performing at each event.

Our performance at the Sports Charity Ball (for SPARKS) in the London Hilton was especially exciting as it was in front of an audience of about 500, including 5 times Olympic gold medallist Steven Redgrave and Princess Michael of Kent. For this event we were joined by ice dancer Lucy Warman and former British Novice Champion James Warren for the finale to the music "Chariots of Fire".

Our last event was probably the most difficult as we had to skate to live music by the classical/rock band "Bond Girls" for twenty minutes! Having never heard the music before, we had to ad-lib infront of about 400 people, which was certainly an experience! (albeit a pretty tiring one!)

However, every time we give a performance on this surface, people seem to really enjoy it. They are amazed that we are skating - on what looks like a dance floor - at all!

Written by John and Sinead Kerr

[NickiT]

Originally posted by melanieuk
Sinead and John Kerr have done it!


I should think it is possible if you use your own skates and have sharp blades. I have seen two of our better skaters land several axels on synthetic ice, but again, they were in their own skates and therefore had decent edges. There is a huge difference between hire skates that are so blunt they have no edges at all, and the nice sharp blades that we are used to.

Nicki