Favorite things about your ice arena

[Sk8pdx]

What is your favorite thing about your ice arena? While it is fun to skate at different places at competitions or if you are on vacation and get to see what other rinks are like, there’s just no place like home. What is it about where you skate that you enjoy? It could be the one staff member that makes the best mochas at the snack bar in the mornings, how nice the ice is, less crowded public or freestyle sessions, etc… For me, the thing that I have appreciated most about our ice arena is that I never ever hear a swear word or cursing. Not from the coaches, not from staff… And not even from other regular skaters I share the ice with.. Our staff are very professional, polite and friendly! :bow: I am very glad that even the skaters are following this standard. Even during freestyle sessions in the mornings when there are times it is tempting to throw out a bleep or two, there is never an expletive spoken aloud. :halo:

[Casey]

What is your favorite thing about your ice arena? While it is fun to skate at different places at competitions or if you are on vacation and get to see what other rinks are like, there’s just no place like home. What is it about where you skate that you enjoy? It could be the one staff member that makes the best mochas at the snack bar in the mornings, how nice the ice is, less crowded public or freestyle sessions, etc… For me, the thing that I have appreciated most about our ice arena is that I never ever hear a swear word or cursing. Not from the coaches, not from staff… And not even from other regular skaters I share the ice with.. Our staff are very professional, polite and friendly! :bow: I am very glad that even the skaters are following this standard. Even during freestyle sessions in the mornings when there are times it is tempting to throw out a bleep or two, there is never an expletive spoken aloud. :halo:

Well I got to hear lots of explicatives the other day at a rink I don't go to very often, but mostly it was just one guy who had some serious stress issues (I posted about him in the gratifying/mortifying thread). Maybe I've just been lucky, but it seems to me that most people in skating are pretty considerate about it - probably because there are so many kids around. I don't really care about cursing though: I just found it humorous when that one guy was cursing up a storm.

My favorite thing about my home rink: hmm... The ice is pretty great, but I think my absolute most favorite part is that it's within walking/rollerblading distance. I know that's not really a feature of the rink so much as where I live, but I'm really happy about it anyways. :-D

[TashaKat]

My old rink (http://www.alexandrapalace.com) was housed in a beautiful building. The rink itself needed some attention but the potential was immense:

http://www.alexandrapalace.com/upload/files/AP%20Aerial_thumb.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Alexandra20Palace.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/pic_icerink_2.jpg

My coaches were fantastic, very hard working, very strict but also very caring and very funny. I miss being around them :(

I also miss 'our' kids (the other pupils that were taught by my coaches). They were a great bunch and not a skating princess among them, our coach wouldn't have allowed it! They were very accepting of 'us' adults and were extremely kind and helpful.

I miss them all so much (the 'homesickness' isn't getting any better, if I didn't have Saffy I'd be back there in a flash).

[PattyP]

I would have to say the ice surface. It's very well maintained and it's a large sheet of ice. Unfortunately everyone else likes it too and it is always crowded. Even at 6:00 in the morning... :roll:

The staff is also very friendly and helpful.

[figure_skater]

hmmmmmm... good question...

first of all the ice at my rink is really good... i have only skated in a couple rinks that have better ice... our coaches and skaters are all really nice and everybody helps each other (playing their music, demonstrating, giving tips...)... our rink isnt too crowded for the most part... and has a great snack bar... also there is plenty of room (its not all squished in) so overall its pretty good. :D 8-) ;)

[icedancer2]

The thing I like about my main rink is the other skaters -- there is a regular group of adults and kids who skate in the morning freestyle which flows into the mid-morning public session and we have a lot of fun skating and socializing with each other. The sessions are pretty predictable and everyone knows how everyone skates and so there are no fights, collisions, etc.

The ice is not the best, but there is occassionally amazing ice, they rarely turn on all the lights, it's an old hockey rink, the management (or lack thereof) drives us all crazy, but there's something very homey about it, especially in the fall-winter-spring before the kids get out of school.

In the summer I will probably frequent some other sessions, dance sessions and "Adult only" sessions so that at least I'll be able to keep my sanity, but for the next week or so, will continue to enjoy the friendly atmosphere at my rink!

[cutiesk8r43]

the thing I like about my ice rink is that they have the BEST cookies! :yum: so when every I feel like I had a good skate I get a cookie!
Also I like the staff ,they are very nice
~cutie ;)

[sue123]

I like that the sessions I skate on are virtually empty. There have actually been times when I've skated by myself on the ice. The people who take the money, I guess the management?, they always joke saying I'd better be careful or they'll send the ice guard out.

I also like that we have tables in the "warm" part of the arena, not where the ice is. Comes in handy when I have work to do and the session hasn't started yet, or I have time before I go to class.

[slusher]

I skate in four different rinks, from a state of the art figure skating only rink with no boards and mirrored walls to something was a barn at one time. My favourite rink is the converted barn. The ice is terrible, the dressing rooms stink, there is no food service, but the redeeming feature is that all my friends skate there and I can walk to it. That's the rink that I like the best.

There is a nice rink out of town that has just the best ice. They're still on a sand base and although they crank it up as much as they can it's still softy for figure skating. I'd like that ice, close to home, with my friends and with no boards and mirrored walls. A coffee kiosk would be good too. None of my rinks have one of those.

[Casey]

a state of the art figure skating only rink with no boards and mirrored walls
My gosh! That sounds WONDERFUL! I wish there was a rink like that here!

[Sk8pdx]

Tashakat-- Wow! what a beautiful place to skate. And it looks as though there are more activities to see and do besides skating? The link mentioned a hotel and theater. Is it a kind of resort area? :?? :?:

[Casey]

A coffee kiosk would be good too. None of my rinks have one of those.
I dream of having enough money to build a huge ice rink, like, about 10 times the size of an olympic-sized rink, with all sorts of stuff around the border - i.e. restaurants, coffee shops, and who knows what else, and different areas of the ice for practicing different things, so you could practice whatever style of skating you wanted any time.. Then you could just skate around for hours, stopping for breakfast, lunch, something to drink, etc. all without stepping off the ice. put a big tall hotel right in the center, and advertise it as the perfect vacation spot for ice skaters, and charge by the day.

Ahh, to dream... ;-)

[Blosmbubbs]

I think I have more to say about what I don't like than what I do like about my rink. All I can say is the ice is good most of the time and it's a full size. In the afternoons it isn't crowded. :giveup:

[TashaKat]

Tashakat-- Wow! what a beautiful place to skate. And it looks as though there are more activities to see and do besides skating? The link mentioned a hotel and theater. Is it a kind of resort area? :?? :?:

No, it's in North London. They have lots of events and exhibitions there.

(A summary of it's history taken from the site)

Alexandra Palace was opened in 1873 for 'the people'. It was burned down just a couple of weeks later. It was rebuilt and reopened again 2 years later.

After certain financial difficulties, an Act of Parliament in 1900 created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the Trustees to maintain the Palace and Park and make them "available for the free use and recreation of the public forever".

The BBC leased part of the building in 1935 and in 1936 the first public TV transmission was made. Alexandra Palace was the main transmitting centre for the BBC until 1956, when it was used exclusively for news broadcasts.

After transferring to the trusteeship of Haringey council in 1980 the Palace caught fire again. The Great Hall, Banqueting Suite, roller rink and theatre were completely destroyed. The theatre complete with fire damage is still there though not accessible to the public at the moment because it's too risky. I've been in there and it's very spooky, it's a shame that it's not been restored. There have been many rumours over the years that people are going to restore it but nothing ever happened. Restoration has started now, though, I'm not sure if it's open to the public yet. I'll certainly pay a visit when it is. Only the Palm Court and the area occupied by the BBC escaped the fire..

The Palace was once again restored and developed and opened again in 1988. It continues as a Charitable Trust administered by the London Borough of Haringey.

[Isk8NYC]

I dream of having enough money to build a huge ice rink, like, about 10 times the size of an olympic-sized rink, with all sorts of stuff around the border - i.e. restaurants, coffee shops, and who knows what else,... ;-)

When I skated in the ISI Nationals in Dallas, my interpretive competition was in a shopping mall. (Many of the malls had ice rinks - always air conditioned, I guess it makes sense.)

The almost-kidney-shaped rink had little islands with trees and plants set right into the ice. People out for a shopping trip stopped to watch. It was unnerving! I swore I was going to skate head over heels onto an island. Beautiful to look at, though.

I absolutely *love* the rink I taught at last year - twin ice facilities, central snack bar, very clean, great ice, and brand-new! I could do without the hour-long commute, though.

My home rink is nice. I like the fact that they really maintain it well. When the owners see rust or graffiti, they take care of it. I just wish the ice was better. While I'm wishing, I wish they had a double lot and could put on a second ice surface, too!

[Skate@Delaware]

I like:
the ice-especially on Mondays; they'd spend all Monday morning smoothing the ice from the the weekend, so when you arrive for the 1 p.m. session, it is glass! They take really good care of it, usually no ridges from the zamboni, the fill all the divots and appreciate people telling of "new" divots so they can be filled (we never have to fill them in :D )
the cookies-Otis Spunkmeyers fresh from the oven (except peanut butter, which have been banned because of one evil mom but that's another story!!!
the music-when no one else is around, or when the session is lite, they give us control of the music box and we get to play our own CD's!!!! Or, if the session is a bit heavy, we let them know up front what we want to hear and they play that (instead of the crappy radio).
The Staff-The Skating Director: She is the best and can solve any problem! She can look at your skating and match you right up to the appropriate coach, suggest the perfect skate dress, color, etc. I've never seen her yell or blow up. She teaches little ones and adults with the same respect and sense of humor!!!! She makes skating fun!!! The rink staff: they try really hard to squeeze it all in between the hockey people and the figure skaters, which isn't easy at times (and causes the certain people to take advantage of the situation) which leads me to.....

what I don't like
They added and extra hockey session for next season SO Adult skate is down to ONE HOUR AT THE SAME FULL PRICE!!! THAT STINKS! :evil: :evil: $5 for one hour of skating..... I'm still mad about that. How can he build up the adult skate session when last season he kept "forgetting" it was adult skate and let 2 teenage church groups skate?? We lost about 15 people, never to return when that happened. fume...fume...fume...

2nd thing I don't like.....
We close from mid-April to just after Labor Day (why can't we open before Labor day???) We are the only ice in lower Delaware... which means you either do without or drive an hour and a half for ice....
But the rink is owned by Delaware Slots and State Fair (as a tax write-off as I understand it) so they have big bucks & can afford the $7,500/month to keep it open......They say they have to close if over the summer for the state fair, but that is 12 days in July.... So it takes 3 days to melt the ice and clean the floor, and 5 days to put the ice surface back up, so you have the rest of the summer we could have ice...and shows...and skating. They could give lessons over the summer, and have summer hockey and work on our annual Nutcracker on Ice so we don't have to cram rehearsals into 2 1/2 months...... again fume...fume...fume...

[singerskates]

I like the size of the rink; NHL size. The siize of the rink sets you up for most competitions except the ones where the ice pads are smaller. Next year, I'll have the smaller ice pad problem at competitions twice; John McKay Memorial Invitational being held at Forest Glade Arena and Great Lakes Winter Skating Festival at South Windsor. Both are small rinks but not as small as Riverside Arena which is the smallest in Windsor.

ONe thing I've noticed lately about the Arena ice is that the zamboni staff are not shaving the sides of the rink near the boards all to often. See what they should be doing is getting after those hockey teams that doump there water bottle contents at the side of the ice making hills and mega bumps. I just about tore off my arm because of one of those hills this week. It seems that because we have less figure skaters paying for the ice now through the club that the rink management could care less about us. I bet if we were a much healthier biigger club in membership size like it use to be, then they'd be doing the ice proper and not speeding throough it in 5 minutes instead of taking the proper time of 10 minutes to do the ice. We get tire tracks sometimes, ridges and losts of times the ruts and still coming through from the hockey session which perceeded it. This is the ice I skate on at the moment. So when I get to skate on competition ice that is for the most part smoother and not as hard as diamonds, it feels much better.

[nerd_on_ice]

At the 2 rinks where I skate, I'm there often enough that the staff recognizes me and I don't have to go up to the desk & show my pass. I like being a "regular"! I can also get away with playing my CDs during public sessions, which is not strictly allowed. 8-)

[Kelli]

Best thing about my rink - staff doesn't pay for ice time. Or testing. Or membership. Or locker rental. Or ICE TIME.

Also, because it's a synchro rink, there are more kids in the high school age than you'd normally find. I'm a year out of college, but I like my middle and high school buddies. I wouldn't like skating somewhere where most of the kids quit at 12. Most of the coaches are really friendly with each other outside of the rink, and that creates a really great dynamic in the rink.

Did I mention the free ice time for rink staff?

[jazzpants]

Okay! Time to again rave about my home rink, the Yerba Buena Ice Skating (and Bowling) Center (http://www.skatebowl.com/)! (Click on this link, then click on the "Go for a Spin" link on the left and you'll get a general idea of what it's like to be on the ice at my rink during the day.)

What can I say? It's a gorgeous rink, beautiful "smooth as buttah" ice, great sound system!!! Natural sunlight shining into the rink, looking out to the Yerba Garden playground and the tall skyscraper buildings of downtown.

It's "Adult Skater's Central"!!! 8-) LOTS of adults skate at this rink! Friendly group of people!!!

It really is a GREAT place to be!!! :mrgreen:

[nerd_on_ice]

Oh, jazzpants, I am soooooooooooo jealous of your gorgeous rink! The rinks where I skate have few or no windows, which makes sense in an area where we routinely have 100-degree days in the summer, but makes for gloomy fluorescent-lit skating. :cry:

[dbny]

No, it's in North London. They have lots of events and exhibitions there.

Thanks for the great pix of Ally Pally! My daughter just returned from a semester of school in London. Although she brought her skates, she only managed to skate once, but it was at Ally Pally, which was only 10 minutes from where she was living (Muswell Hill). She wishes she had gotten some pix of it while there.

[twokidsskatemom]

I have a key to get in........nuff said :)

[Sk8pdx]

twokidsskatemom, I envy you! :mrgreen:

[Sweet16*skater]

There is a nice rink out of town that has just the best ice. They're still on a sand base and although they crank it up as much as they can it's still softy for figure skating. I'd like that ice, close to home, with my friends and with no boards and mirrored walls. A coffee kiosk would be good too. None of my rinks have one of those.

That is the perfect rink so that you can see yourself when you practice...I can't even count how many times I've tried to look into the glass on the top part of the boards to see my reflection while I try a new move and it really doesn't work very well...Awesome idea!!!
Sweet16*

[Shinn-Reika]

My favorite thing about my home rink is that it's free and people are cool. It's where the closest thing I have to a coach is. Also the zamboni there has flames.

[*IceDancer1419*]

I skate at a few rinks... mostly, I like the people. Everyone's really sweet, and you get to know everyone! You can just chat with people as you skate around, or ask higher level skaters to help you with jumps/etc... it's just always a really warm, welcoming environment.

They also have pretty good food :P lol

[Chico]

1. Quiet
2. A nice group of skaters. Adults, children and coaches.

Chico

[TashaKat]

Thanks for the great pix of Ally Pally! My daughter just returned from a semester of school in London. Although she brought her skates, she only managed to skate once, but it was at Ally Pally, which was only 10 minutes from where she was living (Muswell Hill). She wishes she had gotten some pix of it while there.

That's ok :) I've got some more somewhere and there are a few on my (very out of date) website (http://www.geocities.com/lynne_99_uk). I hope that she had a good time when she was in London http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/froehlich/a050.gif Did she take a lesson?

There was also a small, circular outdoor rink that I used to go to near to Liverpool Street Station. You couldn't do lots of stuff there but you could do jumps, spins etc when it was quiet. The only downside was the city workers used to sit around having their lunch which put the pressure on you NOT to fall over http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/frech/a075.gif I remember one time that I was there it snowed, the sky was blue, it was magical http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/liebe/a040.gif

[Andie]

The main thing I like about my primary rink, the only one I normally go to, is that they have great ice. And it's not extremely cold like most rinks are. The skaters and staff are somewhat friendly, although I think they could be moreso. But they aren't like mean or rude or anything, luckily.

Too bad it's about 40 miles away :cry:

[Casey]

For a video "tour" of my new home rink on an average Friday night, see:
http://sk8rland.com/users/kc/2005-06-03/hpim0497.mpg (18MB).

Pictures:
http://sk8rland.com/users/kc/pictures/?archive=2005-06-03

Nothing fancy, but it works for me. :)

[iskatealot]

Frankly, my arena is not the greatest. My fav. rink is the one I skate at during spring and summer. The ice is Huge(at least compared to my homerink), everyone is friendly, the facility is a heck of a lot newer than my home rink and the coaches are great.

[CanAmSk8ter]

Pretty much everything. We have a lot of dancers, we have a bunch of really nice elite skaters (it's always fun to watch skating on TV and see the people you skate with every day), we have international skaters coming into town temporarily throughout the off-season which is really cool b/c I love to meet people from all over the world, and the rink employees are all really nice. And my coach is another major plus. The only thing I would change would be to make one of the rinks Olympic-size.

[kittie067]

I like my rink because there are two rinks. also usually the ice is pretty smooth.

there is a skateshop in the rink and he sharpens blades. The staff and coaches are really nice. there are also a lot of highschool aged skaters because my rink is where the CRYSTALETTES skate!!!

So, most of the coaches who skate there are on the synchro team.

Also the floor is all squishy so you don't have to wear blade gaurds.
And as my sister said, they have really good COOKIES! :lol:

~kittie

[Figureskates]

Best thing about my rink - staff doesn't pay for ice time. Or testing. Or membership. Or locker rental. Or ICE TIME.

Also, because it's a synchro rink, there are more kids in the high school age than you'd normally find. I'm a year out of college, but I like my middle and high school buddies. I wouldn't like skating somewhere where most of the kids quit at 12. Most of the coaches are really friendly with each other outside of the rink, and that creates a really great dynamic in the rink.

Did I mention the free ice time for rink staff?

Since Kelli and I work at the same rink...same goes for me.....Nothing like free ice time for the staff!!

My other favorite rink is my home club figure skating rink at Lake Placid. There is something special about bumbling a salchow in the 1980 rink!!

[Melzorina]

I love the fact that my ice arena is just that. An ice arena. And it has ice!!!
ICE!!!

[Blosmbubbs]

I just came up with a good thing about the rink; THE COOKIES! We have Otis Spunkmyers too. Yummmy!!!!! :lol:

[jazzpants]

I just came up with a good thing about the rink; THE COOKIES! We have Otis Spunkmyers too. Yummmy!!!!! :lol:Otis Spunkmyer cookies?!?!?! YUMMY!!! :yum:

My rink has GOOD donuts (glazed, sprinkles, etc) at coffee club!!! :yum: (Wish I was back at that session.) :cry:

[CanAmSk8ter]

My old rink had those Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. They're so good! When they were baking them the whole cafe smelled so good... they were like 3 for $1.50 or something, so my mom and I used to get three and split the third one... of course, in some ways I guess it's better that my new rink doesn't have them, since they're not exactly a great thing to be eating anyway.

[Skate@Delaware]

My old rink had those Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. They're so good! When they were baking them the whole cafe smelled so good... they were like 3 for $1.50 or something, so my mom and I used to get three and split the third one... of course, in some ways I guess it's better that my new rink doesn't have them, since they're not exactly a great thing to be eating anyway.
Ours were 5 for $1 but at the end of the day, they would set out a platter and would say "FREE" so who could resist? Of course, eating like that all the time would slow down my diet efforts...... So I would skate extra hard to compensate (like an extra 25 calories burned skating offsets the extra 300 calories for the cookies) oh well. :D

[Stormy]

My rink is *I believe* the only 5 rink complex in the US. The coaches are excellent, the kids are super sweet, and it's just the greatest place to be. I love my rink...it's like home!

[rf3ray]

I like my rink cockburn ice arena in perth cause the people, arent arrogant and are always willing to help, even people that are in the national teams help out its cool :-) :bow: :bow:

[Figureskates]

My rink is *I believe* the only 5 rink complex in the US. The coaches are excellent, the kids are super sweet, and it's just the greatest place to be. I love my rink...it's like home!

When the outdoor oval is open from November to March, the Olympic Center has five ice sheets as well.

[dglvr]

My rink is huge, four rinks including an olympic size one.. Everyone is like family there, including the staff.. Whenever its a cold morning at the rink, they'll be there to give us free hot chocolate =) We have seperate dance and freestyle ice so it's never crowded, we have physiotherapy, bar & restaurant, amazing competitive coaches, skate shop & skate sharpening and hockey cleaners... and elevators are always great when somebody is injured! Our ice is always good too :)