Skating publics...

[sue123]

...is not really that bad if the skate guard likes you. I didn't realize that the kids were on vacation, so I didn't know it was going to be crowded. Usually, the "crowd" is me, one, occasionally 2 other figure skaters, a couple elderly men just going around the rink, and a tot with his dad. They put up four cones in the center so we can do some of the more dangerous moves in teh center, like camel spins, and avoid the tot. It works well, everyone is happy, the father knows to not let his son in the center even if no one is in it. And the skate guard just skates around.

So today, they first put out 8 cones to circle the center. They also made it bigger in the middle than it usually is. So I'm skating in the center, doing some spins, jumps, 3-turns, mohawks, stuff like that. If somebody would come even a skate into the center, he would shoo them away. When it got more crowded, they actually put more cones around the center, without being asked. I felt like I was skating in a cage with so many cones around me, but it was fine. I got a lot done.

So for anyone else going to skate on the public, be nice to the guards. Then they got your back. Of course, when I was doing a "cool-down" lap, I was thinking how much I didn't want to leave to go to work, so I eithr got caught in a rut, or catch a toepick, and go flying. I would be over the moon if I got that much height on my jumps. He comes over to me laughing his butt off and asks if I was OK. When I told him I was, he laughs even harder, saying things like "I never thought I'd see you wipe out so bad" and goes away wiping tears from his eyes.

Oh, and about my skates, I took them to hte skate shop earlier, turns out something had chipped on the blade or something, so he resharpened them, and then it seemed like one of the screws was a tad loose, he didn't think enough to ruin the alignment, but he tightened it, and all was good.

[froggy]

nice to hear a positive (minus the fall) public skating experience...I once skated a public session at a rink I normally don't attend. the rink guards didn't put an ounce of effort to control the traffic of non-figure skaters at the center coned off area, there was a little kid just sitting on the ice (examining the ice?!), then a bunch of teenagers decided this was the perfect spot to ALL (like maybe 5 of them) hold onto eacthother and then fall over one another, I could go on and on, it was horrible and dangerous..not that I'm doing any fancy doubles but it was nearly impossible for me to work on my spins and little jumps, never again!

[Skate@Delaware]

My rink doesn't cone off the center. You just have to know when to go. Friday and Saturday nights are "teen" nights. Any afternoon session is good, as is the daytime. We are not restricted in what we do on the public ice. It does make it nice! I have seen some of our better skaters doing axels and lutz's during very crowded sessions, but I stick to the lesser crowded sessions for my stuff. And, at $2.50 per session, the daytime is cheaper.

Ice guards are only out on the evening sessions and they are usually chatting with girls:roll: .

We need an ice guard during the lesson practice time-more kids fall and goof off during that time than at any other time! I play rink mom on Friday nights and make them work on lesson stuff if I see them goofing off :twisted: or help them to the box if they fall and start crying:cry:

[AW1]

Gosh our rink doesn't cone off any areas - and I wouldn't like to even think about practicing in my rink during a public session with 270 snotty kids running around dodging in & out and causing havoc!! AAARRRGGGHHHH that's like my worst nightmare.

You're very lucky sue123 to get that benefit - do keep in well with those skate guards! ;)

[dbny]

I've worked at the public sessions all week and when they are crowded it is just insane. This afternoon was the worst, with people skating right through the closely placed cones that marked off the lesson area at the back of the rink. What do they think the cones are there for??? I would hate to meet those people on the road. The guards at the rink where I work are very good, but when the crowd is so big, they can't afford to have someone doing nothing but policing the coned off areas at the back and in the center.

[EastonSkater]

Gosh our rink doesn't cone off any areas - and I wouldn't like to even think about practicing in my rink during a public session with 270 snotty kids running around dodging in & out and causing havoc!! AAARRRGGGHHHH that's like my worst nightmare.

You're very lucky sue123 to get that benefit - do keep in well with those skate guards! ;)

I went to that rink called 'iceworld' in brisbane once .... at acacia ridge. 500 schoolies.....no kidding....500. It sucked....bad. Luckily I was just visiting brisbane so didn't have my skates on me. I wore their robocop rentals, which were surprisingly sharp....so at least that was 'ok'. But 500 people on the ice at one time.....pathetic. And this was an afternoon session on a weekday. That was the worst public session experience I've ever had .... by far.

Actually, your 270 kids sounds pretty bad too.

[AW1]

actually EastonSkater, that's the rink I go to!

[EastonSkater]

actually EastonSkater, that's the rink I go to!

oh geez...I see! Thanks for telling me that. Yeah....that's the time when I had that experience with those stuck-up snobs that admin or run the place. It was my first time there at the rink. Was visiting my sister in brisbane. I didn't have my skates with me but still bothered to drive my sister's car from Toowong all to Acacia Ridge. Got there in a happy mood. Got there early too. The glass door at the entrance was not locked, so I just go in, thinking that it's the same as the other rinks I used to go to....as in to just go inside and wait in the foyer, but not to go inside the rink area itself.

There is another door inside the foyer which leads to the rink. I had no intention to go into the rink at all yet, since I didn't know the place, so I just peered through the glass from the foyer to view the rink. Then I went over to the service desk where this old lady was messing around with cheques or something. I just greeted and commented how nice the rink was looking, and then just mentioned that it's a massive improvement over our north queensland rink. I mentioned that our ice up in north queensland is shocking. And she just says something like 'that's why they beat us all the time at the championships'.....talking to me as if I was some newbie, while in fact I came from places where the figure skaters make the queensland skaters look like newbies/amateurs. And that was all she said....she just goes back to her work and that was it. So I just walk off to peer through the glass of the entrance to the rink once more to see if anybody was on the rink.

Then some guy comes through the door from the rink and says rudely 'what are you doing?'. I said that I was just looking at the rink through the glass to have a look at the rink from here. Then the guy says something like 'not sure why you'd want to do that....there's nothing to see really' ...and 'we're not open yet, so wait outside the building'. I thought 'what a total moron'.

The only 'normal' and nice/polite person I came across that day was the guy that was fixing everyone up with the rental skates. My impression is that those other people probably think they're elite or something, because they happen to own a skating rink in Australia, so they're really good or something. Bunch of rednecks. Next time, I'll try the Boondall rink....maybe they got nicer folks there. I sure did type a bit here in this message....just shows how much I rate that Acacia Ridge place. The rink itself is fantastic though....the ice I mean. Minor icicles in some parts...but generally very good surface.

[Isk8NYC]

I've worked at the public sessions all week and when they are crowded it is just insane. This afternoon was the worst, with people skating right through the closely placed cones that marked off the lesson area at the back of the rink. What do they think the cones are there for??? I would hate to meet those people on the road. The guards at the rink where I work are very good, but when the crowd is so big, they can't afford to have someone doing nothing but policing the coned off areas at the back and in the center.

Doesn't Central Park's rink use a foam or inflatable barrier? That would be more effective, keeping out all but the barrel jumpers! LOL

[WhisperSung]

Wow. . .I hardly remember rink guards from my skating days in Georgia. I guess there were rink guards at the Vienna rink, as well, though, in Austria.

Hrm. The rinks I skate at in MN aren't coned off, and there are no rink guards. I just make sure to go during the day when everyone's in school, heh. Then it's mostly elderly people and other people taking skating lessons.

[beachbabe]

i skate at public sessions alot, because for some reson all my friends want to come every time and i can't really invite them to freestyle haha.

my rink is pretty busy, but recently I've found a nice solution.

after warming up i go straight in to the middle and start jumping doubles, making sure to always land dangerously close to the people jsut standing around (without hitting them) theis usually makes everyone in the whole rink notice and clear off the space. as soon as this is done, only serious skaters are left in the middle and the little kids are too scared to even come close.

skate guards are useless, b/c as someone else mentioned they do indeed spend more time flirting than working (ironically the hot ones actually work, and the ugly ones flirt)

public sessions used to be very frustrating, but after i figured out how to scare people off its not so bad anymore lol althought i have been told off by a few angry parents..i jsut tell them to mind their own busness and to spend their time teching their kids to skate.

[hazeltree17]

Gosh, all of you guys are just lucky to have a proper ice skating rink. We have one that's about 30 minutes from my house for about 2 months during the winter, but they never advertise so you never know when they open. And on top of that, this last winter it was so warm most of the time that I didn't think they were able to do it this year. Come to find out, it's been open and I didn't know, and it closes next week. Grrrr....:x

[dbny]

Doesn't Central Park's rink use a foam or inflatable barrier? That would be more effective, keeping out all but the barrel jumpers! LOL

I don't know. I'm sure I haven't been there in more than thirty years, but any kind of solid barrier sounds great to me. Just having to wave people off and chase them out is distracting to the students, but I can't let them skate through; too dangerous.

[jazzpants]

I don't know. I'm sure I haven't been there in more than thirty years, but any kind of solid barrier sounds great to me. Just having to wave people off and chase them out is distracting to the students, but I can't let them skate through; too dangerous.Last time I was at Central Park (not last year but the year before) the barrier was definitely not foam or inflatable. It was definitely a solid one. I know the barrier's wooden in the areas when you go on the ice. Looks like heavy concrete in the other areas though.

[Skate@Delaware]

Our rink has a "rule" that there is supposed to be an ice guard whenever there are more than 10 persons on the ice.....yesterday there were about 50 and no ice guard! I was mean and took cones away from stupid teenage boys, helped a little girl to the box for ice, and yelled at a dad for being stupid and almost running over a little girl in the middle in a lesson :twisted: ; I was just being me!!!

I did complain to the manager. He said he would hire me if he had any more openings :roll: (jerk).

One teenager (as I took away his cone) asked me what gave me the right to be so bossy....I glared at him and said, "I'm older and more wicked than you" He looked at me and stayed away. I think I got this "rink guard" thing down!8-)

Yeah, and I worked on spins near the center and didn't bail out of any yesterday.....I did notice people steering clear! So I did some jumps and they stayed clear also!

I get tired of the management not doing anything.

[sue123]

From all the stories I'm hearing, I guess I'm spoiled. This rink is by my school, and I know when I went to the rink by my house, it was a complete 180 from this rink. So I knew I was lucky, but now I feel spoiled.

[aussieskater]

And, at $2.50 per session, the daytime is cheaper.

Wow, S@D, you have it CHEAP! $2.50 for a session?? We pay (wait for it) $15 per public session, plus a further $3 (or is it now $4?) for skate hire if you don't have your own skates!

[EastonSkater]

Wow, S@D, you have it CHEAP! $2.50 for a session?? We pay (wait for it) $15 per public session, plus a further $3 (or is it now $4?) for skate hire if you don't have your own skates!

yep.... 2.50 is super cheap alright. Average price is around 5 US bucks. And in USA, spending 5 US bucks over there is about the same as spending 5 US bucks in australia. So 5 bucks is very reasonable, compared to the rip-off prices for public sessions in australia.

But I guess they must charge a lot in australia because there's less people skating maybe, and they need to charge a lot to cover the building and maintainance costs.....maybe. Not to mention, I paid 13 to 15 aussie bucks at that Iceworld place in brissy just to face the bad hospitality of the staff there. It sucked. Whereas in Colorado, all commercial rinks I went to regularly have fantastic staff.....and you only paid 4 to 5 bucks for public sessions, yet they treated you like their friend.

In north queensland, the rink is LESS than half the size of a NHL size rink, and you still have to pay 10 bucks (12 bucks if you haven't got skates) to skate on super soft crappy ice which melts half-way during the session so you're skating on about a couple of millimetres of water until they decide to use the home-made hand held thing to brush the water off the surface, and they have no zamboni. Might as well be skating on a ice pond during winter. And even then, a flat ice pond would have harder and nicer ice.

[sue123]

yep.... 2.50 is super cheap alright. Average price is around 5 US bucks. And in USA, spending 5 US bucks over there is about the same as spending 5 US bucks in australia. So 5 bucks is very reasonable, compared to the rip-off prices for public sessions in australia.



One of the rinks I skate at by my school charges $4, even though it should be $6 because I'm not a resident, but I live on campus which is in the area, so I get $4. The other rink, they're more stringent about their residency policies. $5 if you're a resident, $12 if you're not. And I don't qualify because I don't pay the county taxes. But, depending on who's there, they charge me the resident rate if it's not crowded. Someone forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't Chelsea Piers in NYC $13 or something? Plus extra if you rent skates.

[AW1]

ahahhahaha!!! Easton Skater, the Townsville rink has no Zamboni so they have a forklift with a bucket on the front :lol:

aussieskater, do you skate at Bundall? Sounds about their prices - when I was down there for work one day I almost fell over when I read their prices!

I know at Acacia Ridge Iceworld it's about $12.50 for a public session, and $8 for the figure sessions but you have to be a member of the association or be having a private lesson to get into those sessions.

Oh and EastonSkater, you know that old lady she is on long service leave (thankfully) at the moment - the old guy who you spoke to was most likely Steven Bradbury's father (Australia's Only Ice Skating Gold Medallist (Speed))
but yes a bit of customer relations training wouldn't go astray at that rink. Some days I go in & say "oh it must be so lovely to have a job where you LOVE coming to work" in a sarcastic tone of course!

[Piper]

I know at Acacia Ridge Iceworld it's about $12.50 for a public session, and $8 for the figure sessions but you have to be a member of the association or be having a private lesson to get into those sessions.
8O $12.50 for a public skate?! That's more than I pay for a figure skating freestyle! Luckily, our public skating is free because our rink is funded by the city. Also, I am as close to they have to a "rink guard", though there's no one ever there but me, my best friend, and sometimes some older skaters, so we'll just practice whatever we want.
The rink is practically in my backyard, so in the summer I go over some days and skate while it's closed. The backdoor doesn't shut all the way, so it's always open to me! :lol:

[EastonSkater]

ahahhahaha!!! Easton Skater, the Townsville rink has no Zamboni so they have a forklift with a bucket on the front :lol:

hahahahahaha!!! AW1 hehehe. You're right hahahahahaha!!! It's a forklift with a bucket on the front....but I was too embarrassed to say that. Thanks a lot for telling everybody!!! :cry:

hahahahahaha

Oh and EastonSkater, you know that old lady she is on long service leave (thankfully) at the moment - the old guy who you spoke to was most likely Steven Bradbury's father (Australia's Only Ice Skating Gold Medallist (Speed))
but yes a bit of customer relations training wouldn't go astray at that rink. Some days I go in & say "oh it must be so lovely to have a job where you LOVE coming to work" in a sarcastic tone of course!

OMG .... I think you might be right ....about Steven Bradbury's dad. It may well have been, no kidding about that. Because that day, I do remember there was a bunch of people that had finished on the ice, with speed skating gear on....plus a short chinese lady...apparently the coach. And there was a channel 7 or channel 9 car sitting outside the rink as well. I got there early so no other cars or people were around. hmm...although, then again, might not have been his dad since the guy wasn't like that old.....wasn't young, but not like real old or anything...so could have been another staff guy maybe.