Where to start in Atlanta?

[Kevin Callahan]

Yes, I know, I've been doing a great impression of the invisible man, but I assure you I have not given up skating. Quite the opposite, having continued to have a lesson every week and various amounts of practice since my last post. I have every single jump but my axel consistant if not pretty. My spins still need work but are rapidly improving.

I have moved from Texas to Atlanta, Georgia and I am... unimpressed by the increased distance and cost and decreased amount of ice time at the few and far between ice rinks here in the Atlanta area. All the rinks are in the north and I live in the south, travel times can be between forty minutes and an hour and a half. In particularly bad traffic, it has taken me more than two hours to get to a rink. Versus Dallas where my parents lived within walking distance of two rinks, and Austin, where a trip to the closer rink where I had my lessons with Barry took 15 minutes at most even in traffic.

Furthermore, in my experiences at two out of the four ice rinks in the north, including what is considered the most "figure skater friendly" rink (hockey rules the ice with an iron fist here and the rinks cater to them almost exclusively), and was dismayed to find the facilities not well taken care of and the rules and regulations during public sessions allowed to almost be wholly ignored. In addition, the freestyle sessions are being kept from me because I have passed no tests yet.

Add these defencies to my full-time job's workload, minimize available ice time in the mornings, and on nights and weekends, and I'm surprised I'm making it out onto the ice at all. I've also been unable to locate a coach here, although I've been following up a couple of leads. I was hoping that a Georgian skater might be on the board that can offer me suggestions. The culture here isn't figure skating friendly, even if US Nationals 2004 was held here. It's been quite a shock. :giveup:

[techskater]

Check out the Geriatric Figure Skating Crew on yahoo groups. Many of them are in the Atlanta area (Rob L, Christina M, etc) and may have suggestions for you.

[mikawendy]

I've heard great things about the Peach Classic adult competition (usually sometime in early Sept.)


Rob L.'s username on this forum is rlichtefeld.

(Or, if one were to believe the printed program for a club show that he and flo skated at, Rob Ritchfield ;) :lol: )

[rlichtefeld]

Kevin,

Welcome to the Greater Atlanta Metro Area, and the city with the longest commutes and the highest cost commutes.

Living on the south side does have its "issues" with regards to skating. There was a rink near the Southlake mall several years ago, but no longer. The county has been donated land for a multiuse facililty (including a rink), but they can't seem to get the funding. (Our club's treasurer is on the committee looking into this).

All of the rinks in Georgia are privately owned, so that means higher prices than you would pay in the north where most rinks are part of the Parks and Rec department, and subsidized with taxes.

So, your choices are:
1) Atlanta IceForum in Duluth (where I skate),
http://www.iceforum.com
A 2 sheet facility where we (the Georgia FSC) hosts the Peach Classic on Labor Day weekend. They have had some coaching/mgmt turnover over the last few years and have let the figure skating side drop off, but we still keep plugging along. The freestyle sessions are not that crowded, and they do allow skaters who haven't passed any tests. However, they recommend that you have had some group lessons and passed something close to FS1. As long as you don't hug the walls and scare the skating moms, you are welcome on the FS sessions.

2) The MIC (Marietta Ice Center),
http://www.themicice.com
has a small sheet of ice. It has had it's ups and downs but seem to be going well again. I don't usually skate here, but some of our club members do.

3) The Cooler (in Alpharetta)
http://www.cooler.com
A 2 sheet facility where the Atlanta FSC hosts the Atlanta Open and Magnolia Open. Again a big hockey facility, but they probably have the largest figure skating program in the city. Their FS sessions are almost completely packed 20+ skaters on most sessions. When I was skating pairs with Sara, we skated there on Saturday mornings.

4) The IceForum at Town Center (in Kennesaw).
http://www.iceforum.com
Owned by the same company as the Duluth rink. Has a new manager who is almost 100% hockey. The club is having "issues" with them right now.

If you have any questions, please let me know directly:
rob.lichtefeld@yahoo.com

And, you can check out the Geriatric FSC website: http://www.gerfsc.com
We TRY to get together every month for an adult skating dinner, but lately we've all been too busy, so it is more like quarterly.

Rob

[TaBalie]

When I was in Atlanta I skated at the Ice Forum in Kennesaw. I lived in Midtown and they were ALL far away, and had poor customer service (at least, compared to what I was used to). So I went with where I could find a nice coach--and I found a great one there. Her name is Marsha, she likes teaching adults... Feel free to PM me if you want her contact info.

:)

Edited:

Just wanted to add a bit more... When I moved to Atlanta in 1989, I was at the peak of my competitive skating career and was 14. We moved from Tokyo, Japan, where we had been living (and I had been training), so we didn't couldn't really ask for advice about rinks, coaches, etc in Atlanta -- we had to research it on our own. Even my tests (which were Japanese tests) didn't correspond to anything American exactly, and everyone at all the rinks were sort of clueless. 180 degree from Tokyo, where is was organized, high quality, etc (though trying to figure skating THERE was a nightmare too, as you could imagine LOL). Anyway, it was at this time I decided to take a "break" from skating -- thought it was going to be a few months while we figured a rink and coach out, I started my new school, etc. It ended up being the end of my skating, until I reached adulthood (age 25 or so). Then on my own I researched rinks again, and decided I didn't like any of them, but I met a coach I connected with. I mostly skated Saturday mornings in a group classes (all various levels, but it was fun and social for me) and some privates. Basically, I think Atlanta is a terrible town when it comes to skating :( I would concentrate on finding a good coach-match -- the rest will works itself out. Try short privates at various rinks to see if you click with anyone, or take some group lessons and observe the coaches (and pick other students brains) for information. Hope this helps a little!

[felixdacat]

My daughter skates at the cooler in alpharetta. Now she is only in basic IV right now, so I dont know how good they are for the higher skaters, but they do have freestyle ice. Also from all of my DD's lessons, I do know many of the couches there. PM me for details. I think there pro shop sucks though.
It is very hockey oriented.

[emma]

Yikes Atlanta, to bad. I lived there for 9 years and once tried to go to a rink in Marietta, one look at the public session and i didnt even bother to get on the ice.

[Kevin Callahan]

I have been skating at the Ice Forum in Duluth.

The cooler seemed like better ice when I was there, but was just too darn hard to get to with GA 400 practically ripped out. Its staff also told me I could not be on its FS sessions, which seemed slightly absurd. I also have been unable to find a calendar on its website, so I don't know when the evening sessions are if they even exist.

I am completely serious about continuing my skating and competing, and I would hate to be forced to give it up.

But I am only 22, so I'm still pretty young.

[skaternum]

I don't find restrictng freestyle session to be absurd at all. It can be downright dangerous to have figure skaters and learn-to-skaters on a freestyle session together. And it can make for a very unproductive session for the figure skaters. Not saying you're a learn-to-skater, but I agree that there has to be some kind of minimum established for those sessions.

In my experience, most rinks with a test minimum for freestyle sessions will allow you on the session if you're in a lesson with a coach. Did you ask about that?

[Kevin Callahan]

I was refering only to me, since the same staff complained about my jumps during public sessions. And I said that was only slightly absurd, since I agree some kind of qualifications must be in place. But if I am not allowed to practice the jumps I have learned on public session ice, where then should I practice if FS sessions are off limits too?

And yes, they did mention that if I had a coach, the coach could take responsibility for me. I have not yet managed to track down a coach. I'm still shopping.

[rlichtefeld]

Unfortunately, most of the rinks don't do a good job of posting their hours online. In fact, most don't do a good job of letting their skaters know when they change their hours.

Duluth is on summer hours, which means the last FS session during the week goes from 5:30-6:10.

The only weeknight public session in town is at Duluth from 7:00-8:30pm.

Rob

[Kevin Callahan]

Well, send me an invite when you guys do manage to get together, and toss me some coach ideas... and I suppose I ought to join a local club, since I don't forsee leaving any time soon...

BTW, Kinky is doing pretty well in his gubernatorial campaign. I've had the pleasure of writing a few articles on him and talking to him about his policy plans in Austin.